Assessing dietary intake in preschool children: The healthy start project - New York

Healthy Start is a three year research project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a cardiovascular risk reduction program in minority and low-income children and their parents. Baseline 24-hour recall data was collected on 439 three to five year-old children during the Fall of 1995. The methodology used was a combined approach: observation of the children during mealtime to determine quantities of food eaten at school coupled with completion of a food record by the parent/guardian of the child for foods eaten away from school on the same day as the observation. The food record was reviewed by phone with the parent/guardian for accuracy and completeness. In the absence of a completed food record, the parent was asked to recall the child's intake on the day in question. School meal plus home meal intake was merged for each child to create the 24-hour intake. The collection method was done according to specific criteria. The mean caloric intake was 1449 kcal, with 15% of energy from protein, 54% from carbohydrate, 31% from fat and 12% from saturated fat. This combined approach methodology allows 24-hour intakes to be collected on young children in the school setting as well as the home environment.