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G I Feunekes

Publications and source records attributed to G I Feunekes.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Alcohol intake assessment: the sober facts.

Recent recommendations in regard to the level of alcohol intake have mainly been based on epidemiologic studies which relied on self-reported amounts of alcohol consumed. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the quality of self-reported measures of alcohol intake. Alcohol intake assessment methods were reviewed with respect to their capacity to rank individuals according to alcohol intake and their ability to explain the variation in the level of intake in population samples. In 33 methodological papers published after 1984, alcohol intake was assessed by five main methods: quantity frequency, extended quantity frequency, retrospective diary, prospective diary, and 24-hour recalls. The mean level of alcohol intake differed by 20% between these methods. It was also found that when researchers asked specifically about intake of beer, wine, and liquor, this resulted in 20% higher estimates of intake. These percentages were similar among populations with low and high mean alcohol consumption (4 vs. 10 drinks per week). It was found that ranking of individuals according to intake was satisfactory, with weighted correlation coefficients between methods ranging from 0.63 to 0.73. The authors conclude that, when there is sufficient evidence that alcohol intake is underestimated in a population, methods that enquire about both the frequency and amount consumed, for beer, wine, and liquor, separately, will yield the most realistic levels of intake.

Alcohol Drinking

Skinfold thicknesses: is there a need to be very precise in their location?

Skinfold thicknesses represent a comparatively simple and reasonably accurate assessment of body fatness which is an important part of the estimation of nutritional state. However, much emphasis is placed on the necessity to be very precise in the exact position of the skinfold being measure and there is frequently concern, also, about the variability of the measurement by different observers using different types of caliper. Fifty-three women and forty-five men had four skinfolds (biceps, triceps, supra-iliac and subscapular) measured first at the standard sites (Tanner, 1953; Edwards et al. 1955), and then at deliberately chosen sites about 20 mm distant from the "correct' ones. The effect on the estimation of body fatness by this manoeuvre resulted in a difference of usually less then 1% and, at a maximum, 3%. In the light of the uncertainty of the basic assumptions which are made in extrapolating from skinfolds (or indeed densitometry, total body water, total body K, and others) to body fatness, these technical errors assume comparatively little importance.

Adult

Family resemblance in fat intake in The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES: To assess family resemblance in fat intake in a representative sample of Dutch families. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Households (n = 1077) with children between 1 and 30 y old were selected from the data set of the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 1992. Two-day diet records were available for all household members. RESULTS: Pearson correlation coefficients for fat and fatty acid intakes (En%) ranged from r = 0.51 to r = 0.61 between parents, and from r = 0.52 to r = 0.72 between siblings. The mean associations in fat and fatty acid intake (En%) between mothers or fathers and children ranged from r = 0.37 to r = 0.50, and they were surprisingly similar for children from 1-3 y of age up to children above 21 y of age. Associations were consistently high for foods eaten at home, and weak for foods eaten outside of the home. Similar within-family associations were found in a set of 1052 households of the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey of 1987. Reported adherence to a therapeutic diet by one of the parents did not erase within-family intake correlations, suggesting that family resemblance is a dynamic phenomenon. CONCLUSION: Dutch parents and children living together resemble each other in short term intake of fats and fatty acids. SPONSORSHIP: This study was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. DESCRIPTORS: Fat intake; dietary intake; social environment; family resemblance.

Adolescent

Social facilitation of food intake is mediated by meal duration.

The effect of the number of others present on the amount of food eaten was investigated in the Netherlands by studying spontaneous meal size in 50 free-living young males and females. Subjects recorded food consumption, number of others present, hunger, taste of the food, food availability, and atmosphere at each eating or drinking moment for four (n = 30) or seven consecutive days (n = 20). The results of the study with four and the study with seven recording days were comparable. The mean Pearson within-person correlation coefficient between the number of other present and meal size was 0.24 (n = 50, p < 0.05). This correlation was significant for breakfast (0.40, p < 0.05) and snacks (0.18, p < 0.05), but not for lunch (r = 0.19, p > 0.05) and dinner (r = 0.15, p > 0.05). A path analysis showed no direct effect of the number of others on meal size, but revealed that social facilitation of spontaneous meal size was mediated by meal duration.

Adult

Relative and biomarker-based validity of a food-frequency questionnaire estimating intake of fats and cholesterol.

The relative validity of a 104-item food-frequency method to assess intakes of fats and cholesterol was tested against the dietary history of 191 men and women. Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from 0.38 for linoleic acid (% of energy) to 0.83 for energy intake, with 0.78 and 0.75 for the intakes of total fat and saturated fatty acids, respectively. Mean intakes were overestimated by the food-frequency questionnaire relative to the dietary history by 5% for energy and monounsaturated fatty acids (% of energy) and up to 30% for linoleic acid intake. Linoleic acid concentrations in erythrocytes and adipose tissue were used as biomarkers of intake. The correlation of the linoleic acid intake according to the food-frequency questionnaire with linoleic acid in erythrocytes and adipose tissue was 0.44 and 0.28, respectively, and the dietary history gave similar values. The food-frequency questionnaire gives results similar to those from the dietary history and is thus considered appropriate for classifying subjects according to their fat intake.

Adult

Food choice and fat intake of adolescents and adults: associations of intakes within social networks.

BACKGROUND: Influences of the social environment are important in determining eating behavior. Family influences have been demonstrated by resemblances in intakes within families, but research on resemblance in intake between friends is lacking. We investigated the resemblance in fat and food intake within social networks that included family members and peers. METHODS: Fat consumption was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire in 361 social networks consisting of 15-year-old adolescents (n = 347), their mothers (n = 309), their fathers (n = 270), their friends (n = 240), 79 friends of mothers, and 29 friends of fathers. Ten family interviews and four focus group interviews were carried out in a subsample. RESULTS: Within the nuclear family, the intake of 76 to 94% of the foods was significantly associated, which resulted in moderate Pearson correlations for fat and fatty acid intake (% of energy intake) between parents (0.30-0.34), between mother and child (0.19-0.38), and between father and child (0.16-0.26). No significant correlations for fat intake were found between friends, but the consumption of specific foods was related. CONCLUSIONS: We found clear resemblance in habitual fat and food intake between parents and their adolescent children and between spouses. Friends do not seem to have a lot of influence on the fat intake of adolescents and adults in this population.

Adolescent