Community Nutrition

COMMUNITY NUTRITION 3 (1+2)

Lesson 6 : Diet Survey

Types of dietary Surveys

1. Qualitative enquiry: Concentrates on qualitative aspects of food consumption like information on the types of food eaten, people’s opinion and attitude towards food and the cultural significance they attach to special foods or drink, food practices during health and disease and also under special physiological conditions like pregnancy, lactation and infancy.


2. Quantitative enquiry: Exact amounts of foods consumed in terms of grams or liters are assessed and their nutrient contents estimated. Comparisons of nutrient intakes with the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) provide a measure of adequacy or inadequacy of food or nutrient consumption.