Under-reporting of total energy intake is a common and well-known source of measurement error in dietary assessment, and evidence suggests that this bias is particularly significant in obese individuals. After a multi-stage selection process of eligible papers, this literature review appraised 34 papers detailing the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake in people with an obese body mass index (BMI ⩾ 30). The available literature to date shows that having a body mass index ⩾30 is associated with significant under-reporting of food intake. Future research should look into identifying effective techniques to reduce this bias in clinical practice.
Keywords: 24-hour dietary recall; dietary intake; nutrition assessment; obesity; self-reported energy intake; under-reporting.