A pit‐fall in the estimation of rice consumption through oral questionnaire method of diet survey

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Abstract
Rice forms one of the most important and widely consumed cereals in the country. It is known that about 80 % of the total calones and protein consumed particularly by the rural and urban poor are derived from these sources. As such, precise estimation of rice intake by population groups has great relevance in overall assessment of nutrient intake of the community. In diet surveys, estimates of food and nutrient consumption of individuals are usually made by verbal questionnaire (24 hour recall) method. In this method, the rice intake is assessed from amounts in vessels of cooked rice, and it is then converted to raw amount equivalents by making use of a standardised conversion table. In the present study, an attempt has been made to assess the validity of the use of such a conversion table for calculating rice intake. It was observed that this method always under estimated the consumption of rice to the extent of about 30%. The implication of this observation in estimating the nutrients intake of individuals is obvious. An alternate approach has been suggested which overcomes the limitations of the above method. This involves working out a conversion factor at each household level, which is defined as the ratio of total raw weight of rice to total cooked volume of rice. This factor is used to convert individual intake of cooked rice (assessed in terms of vessel volumes) into the raw equivalent amounts. This approach has been tested in a field trial and found to be suitable for wider application.

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