Netherlands NFCS Young Adults National Food Food Consumption Database – Intake and Exposure Datasets

As a plan to cater for the needs to address recent developments in food, dietary habits and sociodemographic developments, the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) were redesigned. The DNFCS Young Adults 2003, 19-30 years was a survey conducted among young adults aged 19-30 years using two independent computer-assisted 24-hour food surveys. This was a part of a revamped nutritional survey system conducted by the Dutch National Institue for Public Health and the Environment. This survey used a computerized 24-hour food inquiry method and it has the advantage of collecting information about the foods consumed in detail. Telephone interviews were conducted to collect data efficiently over a period of two independent days. This allowed for more discrete questions about food safety and the percentage of people who comply with the dietary recommendations.

The study population was representative in terms of age, education level and region. A total of 750 young adults were selected with regard to certain characteristics known to be related to food consumption: age, education, region, and degree of urbanization.The age group (19 to 30 years) was chosen for reasons such as changes as well as stabiluity in the diet and the potential for making health improvements by redirecting nutriotion in this phase of life. Moreover, the age group is the same as used in the nutrition standards of the Health Council of the Netherlands and fits with the various campaigns targeted for this age group. Survey participants in the DNFCS-Young adults were sampled and drawns from a representative consumer panel of the market research agency Gfk. Institutionalised individuals, people without sufficient Dutch language command, pregnant and lactating women wer excluded from the survey.

Dutch National Food Consumption Survey young adults 2003 used a genereal written questionnaire. The general questionnaire was sent out to the selected individuals by the market research agency and they were also invited for a follow up study. The survey questions included several background and life style aspects, such as physical activity pattern, smoking, alcohol intake, educational level, family situation, and whether they had ever/never consumed certain foods or food groups.Trained dieticians interviewed each respondent twice by telephone on random day regarding what they consumed on the previous day for a 24 hour dietary recall. A second interview was aslo taken, and the period between the two interviews was between 8 to 13 days in a manner that all days were equally represented. A computer controlled interview software (EPIC-Soft®, IARC) was used by the dieticians for the interviews.