Rationalisation of the UK Nutrient Databank for Incorporation in a Web-Based Dietary Recall for Implementation in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme

Abstract

The UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey rolling programme (NDNS RP) commenced in 2008 and moved in 2019 from a traditional paper food diary to a web-based 24 h recall, Intake24. This paper describes the approach to update and downsize the underlying UK Nutrient Databank (NDB) for efficient data management and integration into Intake24. Consumption data from the first 10 years (2008/2009 to 2017/2018) of NDNS RP informed decisions on whether foods from the extensive UK NDB were to be retained, excluded, revised or added to for creation of a rationalised NDB. Overall, 5933 food codes in the extensive NDB were reduced to 2481 food codes in the rationalised NDB. Impact on assessment of nutrient intakes was evaluated by re-coding NDNS 2017 data using the rationalised NDB. Small differences were observed between estimated intakes (Cohen's d ≤ 0.1) for all nutrients and there was a good level of agreement (Cohen's κ ≥ 0.6) between the extensive and rationalised NDBs. The evaluation provides confidence in dietary intake estimates for ongoing nutritional surveillance in the UK and strengthens the evidence of a good agreement between concise food databases and large food databases incorporated into web-based 24 h recalls for estimating nutrient intakes at the population level.

Keywords: 24 h recall; Intake24; NDNS; UK Nutrient Databank; dietary assessment; evaluation; food composition; food database; nutrient intake; rationalisation.

Figure 1

Key factors considered for reviewing foods relevant for inclusion in the rationalised NDB. ¹ Dietary intake data from the first 10 years of NDNS RP (2008–2018) were examined to identify reported consumption rates. Foods reported fewer than 10 times (average consumption frequency per year) were considered infrequent and mostly excluded from the extensive NDB. ² Detail/specification required for government monitoring objectives for public health and nutritional surveillance, and exposure assessment. ³ Relevance to specific UK public health priorities, monitoring and evaluation requirements (e.g., UK sugar reduction policy [14] and exposure assessment). ⁴ Coverage and representation of foods and drinks currently available and consumed in UK, based on the foods available in the extensive NDB and using NDNS Y1-10 consumption rates: retaining foods that could not be adequately represented (either according to their food name or nutrient profile) by other foods existing in the NDB or representing similar foods with a similar nutrient composition profile by another food code. ⁵ Availability of products in the UK market: removing foods that no longer exist in UK food market. ⁶ Popularity of food brands: retaining very popular brand-specific foods (e.g., Toblerone chocolate bar) to effectively monitor the composition of these foods and capture the change in their reformulations. ⁷ Foods that are common ingredients for homemade recipes in the UK diet (e.g., stock cubes).