Work with our Dietary Assessment Center

The dietary assessment core, led by Katherine Tucker, is a fully equipped research facility available to members and fee-for-service contracts.

This core offers expertise in:

• Study and instrument design for collection of dietary data
• Collection and processing of dietary records, 24-hour dietary recalls and food frequency questionnaires (FFQ)
• Linking dietary and nutrition data to health outcomes, including NHANES
• Interviewer training
• Statistical analysis to describe the food and nutrient intake of groups, including dietary patterning (e.g. indices)
• Validation of dietary assessment tools

In addition to processing standard questionnaires, we have developed specialized food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) for use with Hispanic adults in the Northeastern US and in Puerto Rico (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Central Americans); and another for use in the Southern US (Mississippi Delta region), which has been modified for use in the NHLBI Jackson Heart Study. Our staff includes programmers experienced in writing SAS programs to link scanned output to dietary database contents and to create output reports for foods and nutrients from food frequency questionnaires. They are also conversant in creating food groups and other food and nutrient variables for use in analysis.