Dietary assessment of micronutrient intakes: a European perspective

Abstract

The shifting focus from infectious to non-communicable diseases has changed what and how nutritional epidemiology evaluates in the relationships between foods, nutrients and the occurrence of disease. The classically applied vision based on individual nutrients, ‘research from the bottom up’, has now been complemented with new approaches, such as applying the analysis of food combinations (dietary patterns) to study exposure and outcome. Methods of estimating nutrient adequacy have also changed over time, starting from calculating the nutrient adequacy ratio to the use of the probabilistic approach. In the present work constituting Research Activity 1.1, conducted within the EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned Network of Excellence, we have set out to rationalise and harmonise the science of estimating micronutrient intake and nutritional adequacy in Europe. A review of food and nutrition initiatives previously conducted in Europe is presented to set the background and context for the present efforts towards developing a harmonised framework on the dietary assessment of micronutrient intakes.