Reliability of a Modified 24 h Dietary Recall and Veggie Meter to Assess Fruit and Vegetable Intake in New Zealand Children
Date
Authors
Patel, Varshika V
Perera, Thalagalage Shalika Harshani
Rush, Elaine
McArley, Sarah
Wham, Carol
Rowlands, David S
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI AG
Abstract
Adequate intake of fruits and vegetables (F + V) supports healthy growth and development in children, yet many New Zealand children do not meet national dietary recommendations, and methods to evaluate intake require good reliability. Objectives: To establish the validity and reliability of a modified 24 h multiple pass recall (MPR) for evaluating F + V and carotenoid intakes in children aged 9–13 years. The reliability of the Veggie Meter® (VM®), a non-invasive reflection spectrometer to estimate skin carotenoid scores and derive blood carotenoid concentrations, was also examined. Methods: Thirty-two children (20 boys, 12 girls) completed three 24 h MPRs and parent-assisted weighed food diaries (WFDs) on randomised weekdays and weekends. Skin carotenoid scores were assessed using the VM®. The validity of the MPR was evaluated against WFDs using log-transformed Pearson correlations and mean x-axis bias. The reliability was assessed by the coefficient of variation (CV) and Pearson correlations. Results: Participants did not meet recommended F + V intakes (5–5.5 servings/day): MPR (mean fruit 1.3 servings/day; vegetables 2.0), WFD (fruit 1.3; vegetables 1.9). The MPR was a valid tool to estimate fruit and vegetable daily servings (combined-day Pearson coefficients > 0.71) with only trivial–small standardized mean bias-offset vs. WFD; however, the reliability was poor for the MPR-estimated carotenoid intake (CV 126%) and F + V intake. In contrast, the VM® was reliable (Pearson correlation 0.97–0.99) with low measurement error (CV 4.0–5.2%). Conclusions: The modified 24 h MPR was valid but unreliable for estimating F + V and carotenoid intake. The VM® demonstrated high reliability as a biomarker of skin carotenoid status in children.Description
Keywords
4206 Public Health, 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, 3210 Nutrition and Dietetics, 42 Health Sciences, Nutrition, Pediatric, Prevention, 0908 Food Sciences, 1111 Nutrition and Dietetics, 3202 Clinical sciences, 3210 Nutrition and dietetics, 4206 Public health, dietary intake assessment, 24 h multiple pass recall, weighed food diary, fruit and vegetable, Veggie Meter®, carotenoid
Source
Nutrients, ISSN: 2072-6643 (Print); 2072-6643 (Online), MDPI AG, 17(20), 3293-3293. doi: 10.3390/nu17203293
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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).