Quantity or Quality: Which Type of Diet Assessment is Best?

Dietary assessment is a core element of practice across many different settings. But the goals of dietary assessment can vary - assessing how closely eating habits meet general dietary guidelines, establishing a foundation for MNT or diet education, researching the relationship between diet and health, or offering diet guidance. Should you be looking at diet quantity or diet quality? Which dietary assessment tools might be best for your practice? Are all tools equal in terms of quality and validation? What is the best approach when time is tight? How good are free tools? Listen to the lively discussion and debate between two diet assessment experts - a nutrition communicator and a researcher – who will tackle various scenarios for picking the best diet assessment tools for the setting and budget.

Planned with the Academy's Committee for Lifelong Learning

CPE Level: Level 2 (intermediate knowledge/experience)
CPEU: 1

Performance Indicators

• 4.1.2 Interprets and integrates evidence-based research and literature in decision making.
• 5.2.7 Suggests, develops and/or implements innovative enhancements and new software platforms, applications and technologies to meet the needs of the target group and the environment.
• 8.1.1 Interprets and applies evidence-based comparative standards for determining nutritional needs.

Learning Objectives

• Identify critical factors to consider regarding the purpose of the dietary assessment, in order to help decide which types of tools might be most appropriate for different purposes.
• Describe several major categories of dietary assessment tools, including the types of data they generate and the best uses for each, to help select the most effective, efficient, and appropriate tool.
• Interpret research findings about diet quality, based on the type of dietary assessment tool used, and be able to explain the implications for patients and clients.

Moderator

• Mindy Hermann, MBA, RDN

Speakers

• Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND
• Christopher A. Taylor, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND