OBJECTIVE:

A dietary survey was conducted in the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona using two methods of dietary assessment--24-hour recall and quantitative food frequency (QFF) assessment--to determine the usual intake of the population.

DESIGN:

Interviews were conducted by Pima women who were trained and monitored by a research dietitian. Energy and nutrient intake were calculated using a computerized dietary database that included specific Pima foods.

SUBJECTS:

An age- and sex-stratified sample of 575 Pima Indians (273 men, 302 women) aged 18 to 74 years participated in the study.

STATISTICAL ANALYSES:

Spearman correlations were used to compare the results of the two survey methods for energy and each nutrient. Intraclass correlations were used to measure reproducibility.

RESULTS:

According to the 24-hour recall, mean reported energy intakes within decades of age were 95% to 112% of those in the US population for Pima women, and 76% to 94% of those in the US population for Pima men. Total energy intake assessed using QFF was 30% higher in men and 33% higher in women than the intake assessed using the 24-hour recall method.

CONCLUSIONS:

A large dietary survey conducted using lay interviewers in a Native-American community was as reproducible as studies conducted in the general US population. The Pima diet was distributed among the major nutrients in a proportion similar to the US diet.