Diet Quality and Dietary Diversity in France: Implications for the French Paradox
Section snippets
The Val-de-Marne Study
The dietary survey was conducted in 1988 to 1989 by members of the Institut Scientifique et Technique de l’Alimentation in Paris (22), (23), (24). The subject sample was selected using a two-stage cluster-design sampling procedure. First, 12 of the 47 districts in the Val-de-Marne Dèpartement (population=1,192,692) were selected by probability sampling, where the probability of selection was proportional to district size. In the second stage, 75 families per district were selected, again at
Results
Mean age of the subject sample was 42.5 years for men and 42.8 years for women. The mean body mass index (kg/m2) was 24.4 for men and 22.6 for women. Subject distribution by age, sex, and occupation and by use of alcohol and tobacco is shown in Table 1.
Discussion
Assessments of diet quality and dietary diversity represent relatively new tools in nutritional epidemiology. Past studies of dietary quality conducted with NHANES and Nationwide Food Consumption Survey data sets were, of necessity, limited to data obtained with 24-hour recalls and 3- or 4-day food records (10), (11), (12). At the same time, the dietary history method is generally recognized as providing a more accurate picture of the habitual food consumption of individuals (25). This
Conclusions
One limitation to research on diet and chronic disease has been the lack of appropriate methods to evaluate overall diet quality. The complex and multidimensional nature of the human diet poses a challenge to the investigator, especially when it comes to comparisons between countries. In this study, some existing methodologies were adapted to evaluate diet quality of a sample of French adults. Although the French diet failed to meet some of the USDA dietary guidelines, it was diverse and varied
References (32)
- et al.
Mediterranean diet pyramida cultural model for healthy eating
Am J Clin Nutr.
(1995) - et al.
Alcohol in the Mediterranean diet
Am J Clin Nutr.
(1995) - et al.
Wine, alcohol, platelets, and the French paradox for coronary heart disease
Lancet.
(1992) - et al.
Cretan Mediterranean diet for the prevention of coronary heart disease
Am J Clin Nutr.
(1995) - et al.
Inhibition of oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein by phenolic substances in red wine
Lancet.
(1993) - et al.
Dietary diversity in the US population, NHANES II, 1976–1980
J Am Diet Assoc.
(1991) - et al.
Food group intake patterns and associated nutrient profiles of the US population
J Am Diet Assoc.
(1991) - et al.
Diet Quality Indexcapturing a multidimensional behavior
J Am Diet Assoc.
(1994) - et al.
Validity of a dietary score for assessing nutrient, adequacy
J Am Diet Assoc.
(1981) - et al.
The effects of variety in food choices on dietary quality
J Am Diet Assoc.
(1987)
Diet diversity and nutrient intake
J Am Diet Assoc.
Dietary diversity and subsequent mortality in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study
Am J Clin Nutr.
Characterizing consumption patterns by food frequency methodscore foods and variety of foods in diets of older Americans
J Am Diet Assoc.
Estimates of nutrient intake from a food frequency questionnairethe 1987 National Health Interview Survey
J Am Diet Assoc.
Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health
Diet and Health
Cited by (133)
Trade and dietary diversity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
2019, Food PolicyThe relation of saturated fatty acids with low-grade inflammation and cardiovascular disease
2016, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry