Assessing individual dietary intake from common-plate meals: a new tool for an enduring practice.

OBJECTIVE The purposes of the present study were to estimate individual intake from common-plate meals among Bedouin Arabs using a modified 24 h recall questionnaire, and to evaluate reported energy intake (EI) by comparison with estimated energy requirement (EER). DESIGN Weighed records were used to develop a method of quantifying intake from common plates. Reported EI and nutrient intakes were obtained from administration of the modified 24 h recall. The relative standard error (RSE) was used to evaluate the reliability of reported nutrient intakes. The FAO/WHO/United Nations University and Oxford equations and reported physical activity levels were used to compute ratios of reported EI to BMR and EER. SETTING Population centres of traditionally semi-nomadic Bedouin Arabs undergoing sedentarization/urbanization in southern Israel. SUBJECTS A convenience sample of 451 adults (aged 19-82 years). RESULTS Mean (se) energy intake was 9648 (276) kJ/d (2306 (66) kcal/d) for men and 8230 (172) kJ/d (1967 (41) kcal/d) for women, of which carbohydrates accounted for 63-64 %. The nutrient intakes evaluated had RSE ratios of less than 25 %. EI:EER ratios ranged from 0.86 to 0.89, and from 0.87 to 0.93 among non-dieters who ate the usual amount on the recall day. CONCLUSIONS The modified 24 h recall produced plausible estimates of energy and nutrient intakes, comparable to those obtained with the 24 h recall in other populations. The modified questionnaire makes an important contribution to facilitating large-scale nutritional surveillance in the Bedouin population, and may serve as a model for modifying dietary instruments to quantify individual intake in other populations that practise common-plate eating.