How can toddlers’ food consumption be realistically recorded?

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: February 19, 2013 | Revision accepted: June 13, 2013

From a weighed dietary record to a photo-supported estimate of portions consumed

Introduction

During the transition from an infant diet to the family diet it is often difficult for parents, as well as specialists, to estimate children’s food consumption. There are various reasons for this. There is wide individual variability in the development of eating skills among infants [1]. Whereas some children are still taking bottles of milk, others are already eating at family mealtimes. Daily food quantities differ significantly from child to child. As demonstrated by the DONALD (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) study, the average food quantities per day, e. g. for two-year-old children, fall between 600 g (10^th percentile) and 1,200 g (90^th percentile) [2].

In terms of energy needs, toddlers eat (g/day) less overall than older children and adults, but relative to kilogram body weight they eat more. Standardised adult portion sizes or so-called “hand portions” are therefore not inherently suited to recording the food consumption of toddlers.

Summary

Feasible dietary recommendations should rely on accurate consumption data, particularly during the transition from an infant diet to the family diet. To determine the consumption habits within the GRETA Study (German Representative Study of Toddler Alimentation) an estimated 7-day consecutive food record was used. It was based on median, age-dependent portion sizes of the foods most frequently consumed by toddlers from the DONALD Study (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed). During the field study, a photo booklet was most accepted by the participants. Furthermore, the validation study confirmed that the newly developed estimation food record was a valid assessment tool for estimating toddlers’ food intakes. The validated pictures were compiled in a final photo booklet, which is intended to facilitate nutrition anamnesis and counselling and also to be used in the research and development of dietary recommendations for toddlers.

Keywords: toddlers, estimated food record, photo booklet, portion size

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