Operationalization of food consumption surveys in Europe: recommendations from the European Food Consumption Survey Methods (EFCOSUM) Project

The EFCOSUM (European Food Consumption Survey Methods) Project aims at harmonizing food consumption surveys in European countries within the perspective of an overall Public Health Monitoring Programme. Harmonization implies the need for a common framework of procedures and tools, that are applicabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of clinical nutrition 2002-05, Vol.56 Suppl 2 (S2), p.S75-S88
Main Authors: De Henauw, S, Brants, H A M, Becker, W, Kaic-Rak, A, Ruprich, J, Sekula, W, Mensink, G B M, Koenig, J S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomarkers
Data Collection - methods
Data Collection - standards
Data entry
Databases, Factual
Diet
Diet Surveys
Epidemiologic Methods
Epidemiology
European Union
Evaluation
Field study
Fieldwork
Food
Food consumption
Humans
International Cooperation
Literature reviews
Management
Medical protocols
Nutrition
Nutrition research
Nutrition surveys
Polls & surveys
Public health
Quality Control
Recruitment
Sampling
Standardization
Statistical methods
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Summary:The EFCOSUM (European Food Consumption Survey Methods) Project aims at harmonizing food consumption surveys in European countries within the perspective of an overall Public Health Monitoring Programme. Harmonization implies the need for a common framework of procedures and tools, that are applicable and feasible in all potentially interested countries. A major element in such a framework is the protocol for the operationalization of a food consumption survey, referring to all practical, logistical and material conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to guarantee a successful implementation of such a survey. The objective of this paper was to review a number of aspects of operationalization of food consumption surveys in detail. On the basis of the currently available knowledge and experience in Europe, consensus recommendations have been elaborated for an operationalization protocol that would be feasible for all European countries. The EFCOSUM recommendations with respect to operationalization of food consumption surveys in Europe are mainly based on three sources of information, which have been discussed at several ad hoc expert meetings: experience from previous collaborative epidemiological studies, literature searches and results of two questionnaires, distributed among representatives from 23 European countries-all experts affiliated with experienced organizations in the fields of nutrition research and related fields. Consensus recommendations have been set up for the following topics: sampling, recruitment, fieldwork, biomarkers, interviewer qualifications and training and quality control. These recommendations have to be considered the best achievable common denominator within Europe at this time. In a number of cases, recommendations are presented in a hierarchical way, with a gradation from first choice options towards acceptable alternatives. It can be concluded that a high degree of standardization of fieldwork can be achieved within Europe. A number of specific problems and constraints will have to be solved in connection with the conduction of a real survey. These problems include, amongst others, country-specific decisions on, for example, target population, detailed sampling and recruiting procedures, interview setting and support. However, on the whole, these problems can be overcome and the main recommendations presented in this paper are considered feasible for every country in Europe. Application of the EFCOSUM operationalizatio
ISSN:0954-3007
1476-5640
DOI:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601431