Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 817, Issue 1 66-82, Copyright © 1997 by New York Academy of Sciences
Methodological issues regarding eating behavior of high-risk adolescents
G. C. Frank
Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, California State University, Long Beach 90840-0501, USA. gcfrank@csulb.edu
Teens exist in multiple environments that offer a variety of foods and a
range in nutrient intakes. Currently used dietary data-collection methods
may not be contemporary and encompass the real world of today's youth. If
we consider respondent capability when we design our dietary assessment
methods, then we can increase accuracy and reduce errors in our data. Our
methodological challenge is to improve collection methods and to: Focus on
the teen and his or her respective environments, Develop
environment-specific probes within food records, recalls, checklists, and
frequencies, Inbed safeguards to assure impartial reporting when surrogate
respondents-for example, parents or school food service staff-are queried,
Differentiate between foods "as offered or available at the home or school"
versus foods as actually selected and eaten, Tease out the influence of
peers and older siblings on food choices versus selections based on
personal choice or cost, Employ cooperative education in the classroom so
teens will feel comfortable with spontaneous interviews by unfamiliar
people, Train students in dietary recordkeeping procedures by incorporating
assessment activities into the classroom instruction. In conclusion, the
teen lives in multiple environments that influence his or her food and
nutrient intake. To increase validity, reliability, and our confidence in
the dietary data about teens, we must acknowledge these microenvironments
and evolve our methods. The process must be evolutionary not revolutionary
like the lives of many teens. The result will be an increased accuracy in
both defining actual nutrient intakes and exploring the role foods and
nutrients have in the overall health or nutrient deficit teens face.
