Abstract
Dietary assessment tools, such as 24-hour dietary recall interviews, food frequency questionnaires, screeners, or food records, are self-reported instruments used to measure the quality and/or quantity of food a person consumes. Some dietary assessment tools collect information about an individual's overall diet quality, while other tools may focus on fewer aspects of diet quality, such as fruit and vegetable or fiber intake. Since poor diet quality is a leading risk factor for many chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers, assessing diet quality appropriately is imperative. The purpose of this publication is to guide Extension professionals in choosing a dietary assessment tool that meets their specific needs.
Accessibility Summary:
In accordance with Title II regulations this content meets all points of exemption as Archived web content and/or Preexisting conventional electronic documents.
References
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2021. “The world is at a critical juncture.” The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/2021/en/
Foster, E., C. Lee, F. Imamura, et al. 2019. “Validity and Reliability of an Online Self-Report 24-h Dietary Recall Method (Intake24): A Doubly Labelled Water Study and Repeated-Measures Analysis.” Journal of Nutritional Science 8: e29. https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2019.20
Gropper, S. S. 2023. “The Role of Nutrition in Chronic Disease.” Nutrients 15 (3): 664. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030664
Martínez-González, M. A., A. García-Arellano, E. Toledo, et al. 2012. “A 14-Item Mediterranean Diet Assessment Tool and Obesity Indexes Among High-Risk Subjects: The PREDIMED Trial.” PLoS ONE 7 (8): e43134. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0043134
National Cancer Institute. 2025a. “Comparing Dietary Assessment Instruments.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/table.html
National Cancer Institute. 2025b. “Dietary Assessment Instrument Profiles.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/
National Cancer Institute. 2025c. “Food Frequency Questionnaire at a Glance.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/questionnaire/
National Cancer Institute. 2025d. “Food Frequency Questionnaire: Validation.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/questionnaire/validation.html
National Cancer Institute. 2025e. “Food Record at a Glance.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/record/
National Cancer Institute. 2025f. “Screeners at a Glance.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/screeners/
National Cancer Institute. 2025g. “24-Hour Dietary Recall (24HR) At a Glance.” Dietary Assessment Primer. NIH Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences. Last updated December 29, 2025. https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/dietary-assessment-primer/profiles/recall/
Thompson, F. E., and A. F. Subar. 2017. “Chapter 1—Dietary Assessment Methodology.” In Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease, edited by A. M. Coulston, C. J. Boushey, M. G. Ferruzzi, and L. M. Delahanty. 4th ed. Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-802928-2.00001-1

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 UF/IFAS
