Obese Individuals Do Not Underreport Dietary Intake to a Greater Extent Than Nonobese Individuals when Data Are Allometrically-scaled

Overview

Journal Am J Hum Biol

Specialty Biology

Date 2022 Mar 8

PMID 35257435

Authors

Sally P Waterworth

Catherine J Kerr

Christopher J McManus

Rianne Costello

Gavin R H Sandercock

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the extent of misreporting in obese and nonobese adults on an absolute, ratio-scaled, and allometrically-scaled basis.

Method: Self-reported daily energy intake (EI) was compared with total energy expenditure (TEE) in 221 adults (106 male, 115 female; age 53 ± 17 years, stature 1.68 ± 0.09 m, mass 79.8 ± 17.2 kg) who participated in a doubly-labeled water (DLW) subsection of 2013-2015 National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Data were log transformed and expressed as absolute values, according to simple ratio-standards (per kg body mass) and adjusted for body mass allometrically. Absolute and ratio-scaled misreporting were examined using full-factorial General Linear Models with repeated measures of the natural logarithms of TEE or EI as the within-subjects factor. The natural logarithm of body mass was included as a covariate in the allometric method. The categorical variables of gender, age, obesity, and physical activity level (PAL) were the between-factor variables.

Results: On an absolute-basis, self-reported EI (2759 ± 590 kcal·d ) was significantly lower than TEE measured by DLW (2759 ± 590 kcal·d : F = 598.81, p < .001, η =0.75). We identified significantly greater underreporting in individuals with an obese BMI (F = 29.01, p <.001, η =0.12), in more active individuals (PAL > 1.75; F = 34.15, p <.001, η =0.14) and in younger individuals (≤55 years; F = 14.82, p < .001, η =0.07), which are all categories with higher energy needs. Ratio-scaling data reduced the effect sizes. Allometric-scaling removed the effect of body mass (F =0.02, p = 0.887, η =0.00).

Conclusion: In weight-stable adults, obese individuals do not underreport dietary intake to a greater extent than nonobese individuals. These results contradict previous research demonstrating that obesity is associated with a greater degree of underreporting.

Citing Articles

Social desirability bias is related to children's energy intake in a laboratory test meal paradigm.

Kelly N, Doty K, Guidinger C, Folger A, Luther G, Giuliani N Appetite. 2024; 195:107235.

PMID: 38296111 PMC: 10922645. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107235.

The Impact of Weight Bias and Stigma on the 24 h Dietary Recall Process in Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Pilot Study.

Howes E, Parker M, Misyak S, DiFeliceantonio A, Davy B, Brown L Nutrients. 2024; 16(2).

PMID: 38257084 PMC: 10818297. DOI: 10.3390/nu16020191.

Nutrition Literacy Is Not Sufficient to Induce Needed Dietary Changes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Carroll A, Rotman Y Am J Gastroenterol. 2023; 118(8):1381-1387.

PMID: 36719072 PMC: 10338638. DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002182.

Obese individuals do not underreport dietary intake to a greater extent than nonobese individuals when data are allometrically-scaled.

Waterworth S, Kerr C, McManus C, Costello R, Sandercock G Am J Hum Biol. 2022; 34(7):e23743.

PMID: 35257435 PMC: 9286371. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23743.

References

Myers R, Klesges R, Eck L, Hanson C, Klem M . Accuracy of self-reports of food intake in obese and normal-weight individuals: effects of obesity on self-reports of dietary intake in adult females. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988; 48(5):1248-51. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/48.5.1248. View

Tanner J . Fallacy of per-weight and per-surface area standards, and their relation to spurious correlation. J Appl Physiol. 1949; 2(1):1-15. DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1949.2.1.1. View

Schoeller D, van Santen E . Measurement of energy expenditure in humans by doubly labeled water method. J Appl Physiol Respir Environ Exerc Physiol. 1982; 53(4):955-9. DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1982.53.4.955. View

Wang Y, McPherson K, Marsh T, Gortmaker S, Brown M . Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK. Lancet. 2011; 378(9793):815-25. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60814-3. View

Braam L, Ocke M, Bueno-de-Mesquita H, Seidell J . Determinants of obesity-related underreporting of energy intake. Am J Epidemiol. 1998; 147(11):1081-6. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009402. View

Nevill A, Bate S, Holder R . Modeling physiological and anthropometric variables known to vary with body size and other confounding variables. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2005; Suppl 41:141-53. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20356. View

Lichtman S, Pisarska K, Berman E, Pestone M, Dowling H, Offenbacher E . Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects. N Engl J Med. 1992; 327(27):1893-8. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199212313272701. View

Rennie K, Coward A, Jebb S . Estimating under-reporting of energy intake in dietary surveys using an individualised method. Br J Nutr. 2007; 97(6):1169-76. DOI: 10.1017/S0007114507433086. View

Johnson L, Toumpakari Z, Papadaki A . Social Gradients and Physical Activity Trends in an Obesogenic Dietary Pattern: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008-2014. Nutrients. 2018; 10(4). PMC: 5946173. DOI: 10.3390/nu10040388. View

10.

. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2001; 894:i-xii, 1-253. View

11.

Jacques P, Tucker K . Are dietary patterns useful for understanding the role of diet in chronic disease?. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000; 73(1):1-2. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/73.1.1. View

12.

Fogelholm M, Anderssen S, Gunnarsdottir I, Lahti-Koski M . Dietary macronutrients and food consumption as determinants of long-term weight change in adult populations: a systematic literature review. Food Nutr Res. 2012; 56. PMC: 3418611. DOI: 10.3402/fnr.v56i0.19103. View

13.

Archer E, Hand G, Blair S . Validity of U.S. nutritional surveillance:National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey caloric energy intake data, 1971-2010. PLoS One. 2013; 8(10):e76632. PMC: 3793920. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076632. View

14.

Muller M, Langemann D, Gehrke I, Later W, Heller M, Gluer C . Effect of constitution on mass of individual organs and their association with metabolic rate in humans--a detailed view on allometric scaling. PLoS One. 2011; 6(7):e22732. PMC: 3144246. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022732. View

15.

Livingstone M, Black A . Markers of the validity of reported energy intake. J Nutr. 2003; 133 Suppl 3:895S-920S. DOI: 10.1093/jn/133.3.895S. View

16.

Wehling H, Lusher J . People with a body mass index ⩾30 under-report their dietary intake: A systematic review. J Health Psychol. 2017; 24(14):2042-2059. DOI: 10.1177/1359105317714318. View

17.

Roberto C, Kawachi I . Use of psychology and behavioral economics to promote healthy eating. Am J Prev Med. 2014; 47(6):832-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2014.08.002. View

18.

Stubbs R, OReilly L, Whybrow S, Fuller Z, Johnstone A, Livingstone M . Measuring the difference between actual and reported food intakes in the context of energy balance under laboratory conditions. Br J Nutr. 2014; 111(11):2032-43. DOI: 10.1017/S0007114514000154. View

19.

WEST G, Brown J, Enquist B . A general model for the origin of allometric scaling laws in biology. Science. 1997; 276(5309):122-6. DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5309.122. View

20.

Heymsfield S, Pietrobelli A . Body size and human energy requirements: Reduced mass-specific total energy expenditure in tall adults. Am J Hum Biol. 2009; 22(3):301-9. DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.20985. View