Dietary Assessment Instrument Profiles

Various types of self-report instruments have been developed to assess dietary intake. Each has distinct features as well as strengths and limitations.

This section describes the major types of instruments that rely on individuals reporting their own diets, with information on their salient features; uses and limitations; validation issues; and data capture, processing, and analysis considerations:

Diet History and Observation also are sometimes used to assess dietary intake, but they are not considered in detail in the Primer.

This section also provides an "at-a-glance" table that compares key features of the main self-report dietary assessment instruments:

The Profiles in this section of the Primer contain numerous links to other sections, including other Profiles, Key Concepts, Choosing an Approach for Dietary Assessment, Learn More, and the Glossary. Links with dashed underlines will show you terms from the Glossary. Links with solid underlines will take you to other sections of the Primer.