Register of Validated Short Dietary Assessment Instruments

Welcome to the Register of Validated Short Dietary Assessment Instruments. Unlike food records and 24-hour dietary recalls that aim to capture the total diet, short instruments assess limited aspects of the diet and are thus less burdensome for respondents and researchers.

The purpose of the register is to provide easy access to descriptive information about validated short instruments. The register contains descriptive information about the instruments along with any associated validation studies and publications, and copies of the instruments themselves when available. The register may be searched or browsed for particular criteria.

Estimates of intake from short dietary assessment instruments are generally not as accurate as those from more detailed methods, such as 24-hour dietary recalls. Short dietary assessment instruments may be most useful for:

• characterizing a population's median intakes;
• discriminating among individuals or populations with regard to higher vs. lower intakes;
• examining interrelationships between diet and other variables; or
• comparing findings from a smaller study to a larger population study, such as the National Health Interview Survey.

Short dietary assessment instruments generally are not useful for:

• characterizing a population's usual intake distribution, needed to estimate prevalence of intakes above or below a given level;
• accurately assessing an individual's intake; or
• measuring change in intervention studies.

Articles reporting evaluative information for short instruments were identified through a literature review using electronic databases, and limited to articles published in English language peer-reviewed journals in January 1998 or later. Descriptive information was compiled from each article. Copies of instruments to share were requested of all publication authors. All contributed instruments were formatted for accessibility and compliance with section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please contact our Web staff if you need assistance with them. Publications and instruments will be added to the register as they become available.