Does Dietary Intake Differ in Kidney Failure Patients With Sarcopenia and Frailty Treated by Hemodialysis.

Background: Inadequate nutrition is common for both sarcopenia and frailty. We investigated whether hemodialysis patients with sarcopenia and frailty have reduced dietary intakes. Methods: Dietary intake, and physical activity were analyzed, along with body composition and relevant clinical data. Results: We studied 51 hemodialysis patients; 52.9% male, age 60 ± 15 years; 33.3% sarcopenic, and 72.5% frail. Dietary protein and calories were similar for sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patients 0.68 (0.38-3.5) vs. 0.68 (0.18-2.9) g protein/kg/day and 19.2 (8.2-77.5) vs. 15.2 (6.2-38.5) kcal/kg/day. More sarcopenic patients had low physical activity (88.2% vs. 58.8%, X2 4.6, p = .03). Frail and non-frail patients had similar intakes 0.67 (0.28-3.5) versus 0.83 (0.18-1.6) g protein/kg/day and 15.5 (8.1-77.5) vs. 18.8 (6.2-45.4) kcal/kg/day. Sarcopenia was associated with age [Odds ratio (OR) 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.02, 1.18], p = .017], body mass index [OR 0.84, 95% CI [0.71, 0.99], p = .042] and lack of exercise [OR 7.62, 95% CI [1.16, 50.29], p = .035]. Frailty was associated with female gender [OR 17.79, 95% CI [2.09, 151.59], p = .008], age [OR 1.13, 95% CI [1.04, 1.22], p = .006], and dialysis vintage [OR 1.55, 95% CI [1.06, 2.26], p = .024]. Conclusion: Hemodialysis patients with sarcopenia and frailty did not have lower dietary protein and calorie intake. Frailty was associated with age and sarcopenia with a sedentary lifestyle.

Determinants and mediating mechanisms of quality of life and disease-specific symptoms among thyroid cancer patients: the design of the WaTCh study.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid cancer (TC) patients are understudied but appear to be at risk for poor physical and psychosocial outcomes. Knowledge of the course and determinants of these deteriorated outcomes is lacking. Furthermore, little is known about mediating biological mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: The WaTCh-study aims to; 1. Examine the course of physical and psychosocial outcomes. 2. Examine the association of demographic, environmental, clinical, physiological, and personality characteristics to those outcomes. In other words, who is at risk? 3. Reveal the association of mediating biological mechanisms (inflammation, kynurenine pathway) with poor physical and psychological outcomes. In other words, why is a person at risk? DESIGN AND METHODS: Newly diagnosed TC patients from 13 Dutch hospitals will be invited. Data collection will take place before treatment, and at 6, 12 and 24 months after diagnosis. Sociodemographic and clinical information is available from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Patients fill-out validated questionnaires at each time-point to assess quality of life, TC-specific symptoms, physical activity, anxiety, depression, health care use, and employment. Patients are asked to donate blood three times to assess inflammation and kynurenine pathway. Optionally, at each occasion, patients can use a weighing scale with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) system to assess body composition; can register food intake using an online food diary; and can wear an activity tracker to assess physical activity and sleep duration/quality. Representative Dutch normative data on the studied physical and psychosocial outcomes is already available. IMPACT: WaTCh will reveal the course of physical and psychosocial outcomes among TC patients over time and answers the question who is at risk for poor outcomes, and why. This knowledge can be used to provide personalized information, to improve screening, to develop and provide tailored treatment strategies and supportive care, to optimize outcomes, and ultimately increase the number of TC survivors that live in good health.

Food Habits: Insights from Food Diaries via Computational Recurrence Measures.

Humans are creatures of habit, and hence one would expect habitual components in our diet. However, there is scant research characterizing habitual behavior in food consumption quantitatively. Longitudinal food diaries contributed by app users are a promising resource to study habitual behavior in food selection. We developed computational measures that leverage recurrence in food choices to describe the habitual component. The relative frequency and span of individual food choices are computed and used to identify recurrent choices. We proposed metrics to quantify the recurrence at both food-item and meal levels. We obtained the following insights by employing our measures on a public dataset of food diaries from MyFitnessPal users. Food-item recurrence is higher than meal recurrence. While food-item recurrence increases with the average number of food-items chosen per meal, meal recurrence decreases. Recurrence is the strongest at breakfast, weakest at dinner, and higher on weekdays than on weekends. Individuals with relatively high recurrence on weekdays also have relatively high recurrence on weekends. Our quantitatively observed trends are intuitive and aligned with common notions surrounding habitual food consumption. As a potential impact of the research, profiling habitual behaviors using the proposed recurrent consumption measures may reveal unique opportunities for accessible and sustainable dietary interventions.

Is Energy Expenditure or Physical Activity Considered When Energy Intake Is Measured? A Scoping Review 1975-2015.

The health-transitions humans have delivered during the 20th Century associated with the nutrition is that from undernutrition to obesity, which perseveres in the current years of the 21st Century. Energy intake (EI) is a contributing factor and therefore a fascination in nutritional sciences. However, energy expenditure (EE) has not been usually considered as a conjoint factor. Thus, this study aimed to review if studies on adults consider data on dietary intake, specifically EI, and included data on EE and physical activity (PA). A search of MEDLINE from 1975 to December 2015 was managed. Our scoping review consisted of keywords related to EI, dietary allowances, and nutritional requirements. From 2229 acknowledged articles, 698 articles were finally taken fulfilling inclusion and quality criteria. A total of 2,081,824 adults (53.7% females) were involved, and most studies had been conducted in EEUU (241), Canada (42), Australia (30), Japan (32), and Brazil (14). In Europe, apart from UK (64), the Netherlands (31) and France (26) led the classification, followed by Sweden (18), Denmark (17), and France (26). Mediterranean countries are represented with 27 studies. A total of 76.4% did not include EE and 93.1% did not include PA. Only 23.6% of the studies contained both EI and EE. A large methodological diversity was perceived, with more than 14 different methods regarding EI, and more than 10 for EE. PA was only analyzed in scarce articles, and scarcely considered for interpretation of data and conclusions. Moreover, PA was often measured by subjective questionnaires. Dietary surveys show a large diversity regarding methodology, which makes comparability of studies difficult. EE and PA are missing in around 80% of studies or are not included in the interpretation of results. Conclusions regarding EI or diet adequacy in adults should not be taken without analyzing EE and PA.

Food waste in Italian households during the Covid-19 pandemic: a self-reporting approach.

Food waste prevention and reduction are an economic, social and environmental concern included among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The third target under SDG 12 (Target 12.3) on Responsible Production and Consumption aims to halve food waste by 2030 at retail and consumer levels, considering that more than half of its quantity is generated by final consumers, both indoor and outdoor. However, the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak at the beginning of 2020 imposed several food consumption behaviors and lifestyle changes: food service facilities (e.g., restaurants, pubs, cafés, hotels, resorts) have been closed roughly all over the world, generating a sharp domestic consumption and an expected increase in household waste. The authors conducted an explorative research through the food diary approach. The purpose of this paper is to have a better understanding of household food consumption and wastage trends during Covid-19 pandemic testing, as well as food diary methodology strengths and weaknesses. Food diaries, even with their intrinsic limitations and biases, represent a valuable technique to obtain detailed qualitative and quantitative knowledge on daily food consumption and consumers' behavior. Through the limited but significant results achieved, the authors highlight the logistics of the methodology and the food waste generation trends among a small sample of Italian families during the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, healthier work-life balances, adequate time management and smart food delivery seem to be good opportunities for food waste reduction in households.

Longitudinal Diet Quality Trajectories Suggest Targets for Diet Improvement in Early Childhood.

BACKGROUND: There is little information about how diet quality evolves in early childhood, whether children exhibit varying diet quality trajectories, or which components of diet quality should be targeted for intervention. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to identify and evaluate trajectories of dietary quality in young children. DESIGN: This was a secondary analysis of an observational, longitudinal cohort study of non-Hispanic African American or White children and their parents from racially concordant households with 4 years of follow-up (up to 13 study visits). Data on mother, infant feeding, and body mass index were assessed at baseline. Diet was evaluated using 3-day diaries at each visit. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Of 372 children enrolled, 349 children had at least 3 study visits with dietary data for this analysis. Participants were enrolled at age 3 years between March 2001 and August 2002 in Cincinnati, OH. Final study visits were conducted between February 2005 and June 2006. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome measure was the total Healthy Eating Index 2005 (HEI-2005) score and HEI-2005 component scores. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Diet quality trajectories were modeled using group-based modeling techniques. RESULTS: The total HEI-2005 score was low at age 3 years (mean ± standard error = 55.1 ± 0.4 of maximum 100 points) and remained stable to age 7 years (mean ± standard error = 54.0 ± 0.6; P = 0.08 for trend). Five HEI-2005 trajectory groups were identified, of which 1 declined and 1 improved over time. HEI-2005 component scores, except milk intake and meat/beans scores, differed significantly (all, P ≤ 0.02) among trajectory groups at age 3 years, and most differences were maintained at age 7 years. Total vegetables, dark green and orange vegetables and legumes, and whole grains component scores were low for all trajectory groups. Whole fruit; total fruit; saturated fat; and calories from solid fats, alcoholic beverages, and added sugars (SoFAAS) were highly variable among trajectory groups. Children in the lowest diet quality trajectory group were less likely to be breastfed and more likely to have been regular consumers of soft drinks (e.g., powdered drink mixes, sport drinks, or soda pop) before age 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: Young childhood diet quality was low at age 3 years and remained stable to age 7 years. Improving intake of vegetables and whole grains is needed for all children. Focused attention regarding increasing fruit intake and reducing SoFAAS may be needed for families at increased risk for low overall diet quality.

Dietary oleic acid is inversely associated with pancreatic cancer - Data from food diaries in a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Dietary oleic acid may prevent pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) by reducing hyperinsulinaemia which can otherwise promote DNA damage and tumour growth. Results from previous epidemiological studies investigating oleic acid are inconsistent. This study aims to clarify the relationship between dietary oleic acid intake and the risk of developing PDA using nutritional information from food diaries plus published serum biomarker data from HbA1c. METHODS: 23,658 participants, aged 40-74 years, were recruited into EPIC-Norfolk and completed 7-day food diaries which recorded; foods, brands and portion sizes to calculate nutrient intakes. Serum HbA1c was measured at recruitment in 11,147 participants (48.7% of cohort). Hazard ratios (HRs) for quintiles of dietary oleic acid intake and serum HbA1c were estimated using Cox regression. Additional analyses were made according to whether body mass index (BMI) was greater or less than 25 kg/m2 as this influences hyperinsulinaemia. RESULTS: 88 participants (55% women) developed PDA after a mean follow-up of 8.4 years (SD = 3.9) (mean age at diagnosis = 72.6 years, SD = 8.8). A decreased risk of PDA was associated with increased dietary oleic acid intake (highest vs lowest quintile, HR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.10-0.81, P trend across quintiles = 0.011), with statistical significance maintained when BMI>25 kg/m2 but not if BMI<25 kg/m2. An elevated serum HbA1c was associated with increased risk of disease (highest vs lowest quintiles, HR = 6.32, 95% CI = 1.38-28.89, P for trend = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The data supports a protective role of oleic acid against development of PDA in those with higher BMIs possibly through influencing hyperinsulinaemia. Oleic acid intake should be accurately measured in future aetiological studies.

Fast and Accurate Approaches for Large-Scale, Automated Mapping of Food Diaries on Food Composition Tables.

Aim of Study: The use of weighed food diaries in nutritional studies provides a powerful method to quantify food and nutrient intakes. Yet, mapping these records onto food composition tables (FCTs) is a challenging, time-consuming and error-prone process. Experts make this effort manually and no automation has been previously proposed. Our study aimed to assess automated approaches to map food items onto FCTs. Methods: We used food diaries (~170,000 records pertaining to 4,200 unique food items) from the DiOGenes randomized clinical trial. We attempted to map these items onto six FCTs available from the EuroFIR resource. Two approaches were tested: the first was based solely on food name similarity (fuzzy matching). The second used a machine learning approach (C5.0 classifier) combining both fuzzy matching and food energy. We tested mapping food items using their original names and also an English-translation. Top matching pairs were reviewed manually to derive performance metrics: precision (the percentage of correctly mapped items) and recall (percentage of mapped items). Results: The simpler approach: fuzzy matching, provided very good performance. Under a relaxed threshold (score > 50%), this approach enabled to remap 99.49% of the items with a precision of 88.75%. With a slightly more stringent threshold (score > 63%), the precision could be significantly improved to 96.81% while keeping a recall rate > 95% (i.e., only 5% of the queried items would not be mapped). The machine learning approach did not lead to any improvements compared to the fuzzy matching. However, it could increase substantially the recall rate for food items without any clear equivalent in the FCTs (+7 and +20% when mapping items using their original or English-translated names). Our approaches have been implemented as R packages and are freely available from GitHub. Conclusion: This study is the first to provide automated approaches for large-scale food item mapping onto FCTs. We demonstrate that both high precision and recall can be achieved. Our solutions can be used with any FCT and do not require any programming background. These methodologies and findings are useful to any small or large nutritional study (observational as well as interventional).

Sodium and Potassium Intake from Food Diaries and 24-h Urine Collections from 7 Days in a Sample of Healthy Greek Adults.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate sodium and potassium intake, employing 24 h and spot urine samples and food diaries for seven consecutive days. METHODS: For seven consecutive days subjects recorded their food and drink intakes, and recorded and collected all urinations. Food sodium and potassium intake were analyzed in 24- and 6-h intervals from wake-up time. Urine indices were analyzed in first morning, 24- and 6-h intervals samples over the day from wake-up time. The study took place in Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. In total, 163 healthy subjects (age 39 ± 12 years; 74 females) were enrolled in the study. RESULTS: Mean urine sodium excretion was 2,803.3 ± 1,249.0 mg/day (121.9 ± 54.3 mmol/day) and mean urine potassium excretion was 2,152.2 ± 913.3 mg/day (55.2 ± 23.4 mmol/day). The highest potassium concentration was measured in the afternoon, while the lowest sodium concentration was measured in the overnight 6-h interval. Food sodium intake was 1,983.2 ± 814.1 mg/day and food potassium was 2,264.5 ± 653.3 mg/day. The sources that contribute most in food sodium intake are dairy products 24%, breads 22%, and savory snacks 17%. CONCLUSION: Strategies should encourage the Greek population to moderate sodium intake and promote potassium intake, thus adopting a healthier dietary and lifestyle pattern.

Distribution of serum levels of persistent organic pollutants, heterocyclic aromatic amine theoretical intake and nutritional cofactors in a semi-rural island population.

Persistent organic pollutant (POP) exposure is strongly associated with negative health effects in humans. Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are formed during high temperature cooking of foods (i.e. meat and fish). Human exposure to HAA is through food consumption and from similar food groups to POPs. A study of serum samples for POPs in a non-occupational exposed population (n = 149, age range 18-80 years, recruited in 2012) and comparison with estimated HAA daily intake calculations based on food diaries were undertaken. Three different age groups (group 1, 18-29 years; group 2, 30-44 years; and group 3, 45-80 years) were used to explore possible relationships between POP levels present in blood, HAA intake and nutritional cofactors. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between groups (1 and 3) for POP levels were found for p,p'-DDE, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 153, PCB 138 and the sum of PCBs. A similar trend was found between groups 2 and 3 for PCB 153 and sum of PCBs. Significant differences were found between groups 1 and 3 and groups 2 and 3 for HAA intake., i.e. HAA intake was lowest in those of middle age, which may well reflect a different pathway of human exposure between HAA and POPs through the diet preferences.

Using food intake records to estimate compliance with the Eatwell Plate dietary guidelines.

BACKGROUND: The UK Eatwell Plate is consumer based advice recommending the proportions of five food groups for a balanced diet: starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, dairy foods, nondairy sources of protein and foods and drinks high in fat or sugar. Many foods comprise ingredients from several food groups and consumers need to consider how these fit with the proportions of the Eatwell Plate. This involves disaggregating composite dishes into proportions of individual food components. The present study aimed to match the diets of adults in Scotland to the Eatwell Plate dietary recommendations and to describe the assumptions and methodological issues associated with estimating Eatwell Plate proportions from dietary records. METHODS: Foods from weighed intake records of 161 females and 151 males were assigned to a single Eatwell group based on the main ingredient for composite foods, and the overall Eatwell Plate proportions of each subject's diet were calculated. Food group proportions were then recalculated after disaggregating composite foods. RESULTS: The fruit and vegetables and starchy food groups consumed were significantly lower than recommended in the Eatwell Plate, whereas the proportions of the protein and foods high in fat or sugar were significantly higher. Failing to disaggregate composite foods gave an inaccurate estimate of the food group composition of the diet. CONCLUSIONS: Estimating Eatwell Plate proportions from dietary records is not straightforward, and is reliant on methodological assumptions. These need to be standardised and disseminated to ensure consistent analysis.

Estimation of daily dietary fluoride intake: 3-d food diary v. 2-d duplicate plate.

The 3-d food diary method (3-d FD) or the 2-d duplicate plate (2-d DP) method have been used to measure dietary fluoride (F) intake by many studies. This study aimed to compare daily dietary F intake (DDFI) estimated by the 3-d FD and 2-d DP methods at group and individual levels. Dietary data for sixty-one healthy children aged 4-6 years were collected using 3-d FD and 2-d DP methods with a 1-week gap between each collection. Food diary data were analysed for F using the Weighed Intake Analysis Software Package, whereas duplicate diets were analysed by an acid diffusion method using an F ion-selective electrode. Paired t test and linear regression were used to compare dietary data at the group and individual levels, respectively. At the group level, mean DDFI was 0·025 (sd 0·016) and 0·028 (sd 0·013) mg/kg body weight (bw) per d estimated by 3-d FD and 2-d DP, respectively. No statistically significant difference (P=0·10) was observed in estimated DDFI by each method at the group level. At an individual level, the agreement in estimating F intake (mg/kg bw per d) using the 3-d FD method compared with the 2-d DP method was within ±0·011 (95 % CI 0·009, 0·013) mg/kg bw per d. At the group level, DDFI data obtained by either the 2-d DP method or the 3-d FD method can be replaced. At an individual level, the typical error and the narrow margin between optimal and excessive F intake suggested that the DDFI data obtained by one method cannot replace the dietary data estimated from the other method.

Prospective food diaries demonstrate breastfeeding characteristics in a UK birth cohort.

Breastfeeding duration and exclusive breastfeeding rates are universally below those recommended by World Health Organization. Due to limitations and challenges associated with researching breastfeeding characteristics, the times when exclusivity is likely to be lost and when women are most likely to discontinue breastfeeding have not yet been identified. Prospective food diaries allow reliable description of the dynamics of breastfeeding to be made to help identify these key time periods. Food diaries detailing intake from birth until the cessation of breastfeeding were analysed for 718 infants recruited into a national arm of an international multicentre birth cohort study (EuroPrevall). Analyses included linear regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier time course analysis. Breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding cessation rates for younger mothers (<25 years) are high in the first few weeks after delivery but slow markedly in the period 10-12 weeks after delivery. Cessation rates are consistent from 0 to 26 weeks in older mothers. This difference in feeding patterns led to significant differences between the two different age groups at 26 weeks for breastfeeding (P = 0.006) and exclusive breastfeeding at 8 weeks (P = 0.009). Forty-nine per cent of younger mothers (<25 years) stopped breastfeeding before their infant was 3 weeks old. To increase breastfeeding duration, further work is required to investigate the attitudes and perceptions associated with such high breastfeeding cessation rates in younger mothers during these very early post-natal weeks.

Promising approaches of computer-supported dietary assessment and management-Current research status and available applications.

PURPOSE: The aim of this review was to analyze computer-based tools for dietary management (including web-based and mobile devices) from both scientific and applied perspectives, presenting advantages and disadvantages as well as the state of validation. METHODS: For this cross-sectional analysis, scientific results from 41 articles retrieved via a medline search as well as 29 applications from online markets were identified and analyzed. RESULTS: Results show that many approaches computerize well-established existing nutritional concepts for dietary assessment, e.g., food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) or dietary recalls (DR). Both food records and barcode scanning are less prominent in research but are frequently offered by commercial applications. Integration with a personal health record (PHR) or a health care workflow is suggested in the literature but is rarely found in mobile applications. CONCLUSIONS: It is expected that employing food records for dietary assessment in research settings will be increasingly used when simpler interfaces, e.g., barcode scanning techniques, and comprehensive food databases are applied, which can also support user adherence to dietary interventions and follow-up phases of nutritional studies.

Agreement between Two Methods of Dietary Data Collection in Male Adolescent Academy-Level Soccer Players.

Collecting accurate and reliable nutritional data from adolescent populations is challenging, with current methods providing significant under-reporting. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the accuracy of a combined dietary data collection method (self-reported weighed food diary, supplemented with a 24-h recall) when compared to researcher observed energy intake in male adolescent soccer players. Twelve Academy players from an English Football League club participated in the study. Players attended a 12 h period in the laboratory (08:00 h-20:00 h), during which food and drink items were available and were consumed ad libitum. Food was also provided to consume at home between 20:00 h and 08:00 h the following morning under free-living conditions. To calculate the participant reported energy intake, food and drink items were weighed and recorded in a food diary by each participant, which was supplemented with information provided through a 24-h recall interview the following morning. Linear regression, limits of agreement (LOA) and typical error (coefficient of variation; CV) were used to quantify agreement between observer and participant reported 24-h energy intake. Difference between methods was assessed using a paired samples t-test. Participants systematically under-reported energy intake in comparison to that observed (p < 0.01) but the magnitude of this bias was small and consistent (mean bias = -88 kcal·day(-1), 95% CI for bias = -146 to -29 kcal·day(-1)). For random error, the 95% LOA between methods ranged between -1.11 to 0.37 MJ·day(-1) (-256 to 88 kcal·day(-1)). The standard error of the estimate was low, with a typical error between measurements of 3.1%. These data suggest that the combined dietary data collection method could be used interchangeably with the gold standard observed food intake technique in the population studied providing that appropriate adjustment is made for the systematic under-reporting common to such methods.

Accuracy of self-reported intake of signature foods in a school meal intervention study: comparison between control and intervention period.

Bias in self-reported dietary intake is important when evaluating the effect of dietary interventions, particularly for intervention foods. However, few have investigated this in children, and none have investigated the reporting accuracy of fish intake in children using biomarkers. In a Danish school meal study, 8- to 11-year-old children (n 834) were served the New Nordic Diet (NND) for lunch. The present study examined the accuracy of self-reported intake of signature foods (berries, cabbage, root vegetables, legumes, herbs, potatoes, wild plants, mushrooms, nuts and fish) characterising the NND. Children, assisted by parents, self-reported their diet in a Web-based Dietary Assessment Software for Children during the intervention and control (packed lunch) periods. The reported fish intake by children was compared with their ranking according to fasting whole-blood EPA and DHA concentration and weight percentage using the Spearman correlations and cross-classification. Direct observation of school lunch intake (n 193) was used to score the accuracy of food-reporting as matches, intrusions, omissions and faults. The reporting of all lunch foods had higher percentage of matches compared with the reporting of signature foods in both periods, and the accuracy was higher during the control period compared with the intervention period. Both Spearman's rank correlations and linear mixed models demonstrated positive associations between EPA+DHA and reported fish intake. The direct observations showed that both reported and real intake of signature foods did increase during the intervention period. In conclusion, the self-reported data represented a true increase in the intake of signature foods and can be used to examine dietary intervention effects.

Treinamento de escolares de 7 a 10 anos para o preenchimento de um Diário Alimentar / Training 7-10 year-old students to complete a food diary

INTRODUÇÃO: É reconhecida a efetividade de um treinamento para melhorar a qualidade no relato do consumo alimentar em adultos, porém poucos estudos avaliam esta efetividade em crianças. OBJETIVO: Investigar o efeito da realização de um treinamento para o desenvolvimento de habilidades para um correto preenchimento de um Diário Alimentar, por escolares de 7 a 10 anos. METODOLOGIA: O estudo foi conduzido em uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo e envolveu a realização de 3 sessões de treinamento de 30 minutos cada, direcionadas a 40 escolares de ambos os sexos. Para verificação do efeito do treinamento, 3 examinadores avaliaram o preenchimento dos dados antes e após o mesmo. Foram atribuídos escores de 0 a 5 para aspectos relativos à identificação, detalhamento e quantificação do alimento consumido, e calculado o escore médio a partir dos escores de cada examinador para cada aspecto. Utilizou-se o teste de Wilcoxon para comparação de amostras dependentes. RESULTADOS: Foi constatada evidência estatística de diferença entre os escores antes e após o treinamento para os três aspectos: identificação (p < 0,001), detalhamento (p = 0,003) e quantificação do alimento (p < 0,001), sendo grande parte dos valores após o treinamento maiores que os iniciais. CONCLUSÃO: É possível aumentar a habilidade de escolares de 7 a 10 anos no preenchimento de um Diário Alimentar a partir da realização de um treinamento nos moldes apresentados neste artigo.