FARE 1300 Lecture : Measuring Nutritional Status in the Individual

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics
• Course: FARE 1300
• Professor: Spencer Henson

Document Summary

Dietary assessment y assess nutrient intake y approaches: dietary recall (an interview with a self-reporting style of remembering food intake) the problem is that it is sometimes hard to remember: dietary record (recording the amount of food consumed at meal times, usually by weight) potential problem = when people know the food is being judged, they will adjust their diet to make it look good or easier to weigh: replicate studies, food frequency questionnaire y comparison with dietary standards. Biochemical assessment y examination of bodily fluids: urine, blood y focus on metabolic changes accompanying nutritional disorders y can assess sub-clinical deficiencies y very accurate measurement of short-term nutritional problems y high cost and complex. Effects of undernutrition on physical growth and development: y energy and protein are critical to human development y key distinction: acute under-nutrition = short-term. E. g. after a short famine, the body is able to recover: chronic under-nutrition = long-term inadequacy of protein/calories.