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Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program

Developing Scoring Algorithms

We developed scoring procedures to convert screener responses to estimates of individual dietary intake for fruits and vegetables (cup equivalents), dairy (cup equivalents), added sugars (tsp), whole grains (ounce equivalents), fiber (g), and calcium (mg) using the DSQ and What We Eat in America 24-hour dietary recall data from the 2009-2010 NHANES. The following equations were estimated in the NHANES 2009-2010.

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For cup equivalents of total fruits and vegetables including legumes and French fries


For each sex:
E (Fruits and Vegetables) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b3NFG3P3 + b4NFG4P4 + ... + b12NFG12P12

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in fruit and vegetable cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the ten fruit and vegetable food groups.

For cup equivalents of fruits and vegetables including legumes and excluding French fries


For each sex:
E (Fruits and Vegetables, no fries) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b3NFG3P3 + b4NFG4P4 + b5NFG5P5 + b7NFG7P7 + ... + b12NFG12P12

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in fruit and vegetable cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the nine fruit and vegetable food groups.

For cup equivalents of fruits


For each sex:
E (Fruits) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b3NFG3P3 + b4NFG4P4

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in fruit cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the two fruit food groups.

For cup equivalents of vegetables including French fries and legumes


For each sex:
E (Vegetables) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b5NFG5P5 + b6NFG6P6 + ... + b12NFG12P12

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in vegetable cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the eight vegetable food groups.

For cup equivalents of vegetables including legumes and excluding French fries


E (Vegetables, no FF) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b5NFG5P5 + b7NFG7P7 + b8NFG8P8 +... + b12NFG12P12

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in vegetable cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the seven vegetable food groups.

For cup equivalents of dairy


For each sex:
E (Dairy) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b8NFG8P8 + b13NFG13P13 + b14NFG14P14 + b15NFG15P15

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in dairy cup equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the four dairy food groups.

For teaspoon equivalents of added sugars


For each sex:
E (Added sugars) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b15NFG15P15 + b16NFG16P16 + ... + b24NFG24P24

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in teaspoon equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the ten added sugar food groups.

For teaspoon equivalents of added sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages


For each sex:
E (Added sugars) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b16NFG16P16 + b17NFG17P17 + b18NFG18P18

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in teaspoon equivalents of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the three added sugar from beverages food groups.

For ounce-equivalents of whole grains


For each sex:
E (Whole grains) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b25NFG25P25 + b26NFG26P26 + ... + b30NFG30P30

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the average daily frequency an individual reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in grams of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the six whole grain food groups.

For grams of fiber


For each sex:
E (Fiber) = b0 + b1Kid + b2Teen + b3NFG3P3 + b4NFG4P4 + ... + b21NFG21P21 + b28NFG28P28 + b29NFG29P29 + ... + b33NFG33P33

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the usual average daily frequency number of times per day an individual consumed reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in grams of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the twenty-five food groups.

For milligrams of calcium


For each sex:
E (Calcium) = b0+ b1Kid + b2Teen + b3NFG3P3 + b4NFG4P4 + ... + b21NFG21P21 + b28NFG28P28 + b29NFG29P29 + b30NFG30P30 + b34NFG34P34 + b35NFG35P35 + b36NFG36P36

b29NFG29P29 + ... + b33NFG33P33

  • Where E is the expected value;
  • NFGk is the daily frequency of intake of Food Group k;
  • Pk is the sex-age specific portion size of Food Group k;
  • Kid is 1 if aged 2-11 years and otherwise is 0;
  • Teen is 1 if aged 12-17 years and otherwise is 0;
  • b is the estimated regression coefficient for each term.

The dependent variable is estimated from modelled 24HR data and is the exposure of interest; NFGk is the usual average daily frequency number of times per day an individual consumed reported consumption of food group k on the DSQ; Pk is the median portion size in grams of group k from the 24HR; and k indexes the twenty-five food groups.

Last Updated: 14 Dec, 2021