Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Assessment of selective under-reporting of food intake by both obese and non-obese women in a metabolic facility

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the degree of bias in under-reporting of food intake in obese and non-obese subjects, hypothesising that under-reporting may be selective for either macronutrient content (carbohydrate (CHO), fat, protein, alcohol), specific food types or eating occasions (meals, snacks).

DESIGN: Thirty-three women (18 obese, 15 non-obese) were recruited to a long-stay metabolic facility for 24 h. Ad libitum food intake was covertly measured throughout the study and a reported food intake completed at the end of 24 h.

RESULTS: Reported total daily energy intake was significantly lower than measured intake. Whilst meals were accurately reported, energy from snack foods eaten between meals was significantly under-reported. (P<0.001) Reported total carbohydrate and added sugar intakes were significantly lower than measured, whilst reported protein and fat intakes were not significantly different from measured. Reported alcohol intake was also considerably lower than measured, but high variability prevented significance.

CONCLUSIONS: In both obese and non-obese women the major cause of under-reporting, as assessed by covert study design in subjects restricted within a metabolic facility, is the failure to report between-meal snack foods. There is some evidence for increased under-reporting in high CHO, but no evidence of a bias in under-reporting towards high fat or high protein foods.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Purchase on Springer Link

Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Poppitt, S., Swann, D., Black, A. et al. Assessment of selective under-reporting of food intake by both obese and non-obese women in a metabolic facility. Int J Obes 22, 303–311 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800584

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800584

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links