Validation of a pre-coded food record for infants and young children.

Background/Objectives:To assess the validity of a 7-day pre-coded food record (PFR) method in 9-month-old infants against metabolizable energy intake (ME_DLW) measured by doubly labeled water (DLW); additionally to compare PFR with a 7-day weighed food record (WFR) in 9-month-old infants and 36-month-old children.Subjects/Methods:The study population consisted of 36 infants (age: 9.03±0.2 months) and 36 young children (age: 36.1±0.3 months) enrolled in a cross-over design of 7 consecutive days PFR vs 7 consecutive days WFR. Children were randomly assigned to one method during week 1, crossing over to the alternative method in week 2. Total energy expenditure (TEE) and ME_DLW were obtained in the 9-month-old infants using the DLW technique for 7 days while recording with PFR.Results:For the 9-month-old group, PFR showed a mean bias of +726 kJ/day, equivalent to 24%, (P<0.0001) compared with ME_DLW (n=29). Using WFR as the reference in this group no between-method differences were found for energy, fat and carbohydrate. Energy intake in the 36-month-old children was 12% higher in the PFR vs WFR (P<0.0001), and protein plus total fat intake were overestimated with the PFR (P=0.008, P<0.0001, respectively).Conclusions:The study indicates that the PFR may be a valuable tool for measuring energy, energy-yielding nutrients and foods in groups of 9-month-olds infants and 36-month-olds young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]