Dietary Restraint and Disinhibition Do Not Affect Accuracy of 24-Hour Recall in a Multiethnic Population

Some psychological predictors of eating behaviors have been shown to affect usefulness of methods for dietary assessment. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the association of dietary restraint and disinhibition with dietary recall accuracy for total energy, fat, carbohydrate, and protein. In a cross-sectional study, data were obtained from 79 male and 71 female non-Hispanic whites and African-American volunteers. Participants selected and consumed all foods for a 1-day period under observation and actual intake was determined. The following day, each participant completed a telephone 24-hour recall using the US Department of Agriculture Multiple-Pass method to obtain recalled intake. The Eating Inventory, which measures dietary restraint and disinhibition, was administered prior to eating any food in the study. Repeated measures analyses of variance were used to determine if dietary restraint or disinhibition were independent predictors of recall accuracy. The mean (±standard deviation) age and body mass index of the participants was 43±12 years and 29±5.5 (calculated as kg/m2), respectively. On average, men overreported intake of energy by 265 kcal and women by 250 kcal; both groups also overreported intake of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. When controlling for body mass index, sex, and race, restraint was a significant independent predictor of energy intake (P=0.004) and negatively correlated with energy intake (r=−0.23, P<0.001). Unlike intake of carbohydrate or protein, fat intake was significantly and negatively associated with dietary restraint (P<0.001; r=−0.3). Dietary restraint did not affect accuracy of recall of intake of energy, fat, carbohydrate, or protein, but was significantly associated with intake of energy and fat. Disinhibition was not related to intake or accuracy. Dietetics professionals should consider dietary restraint a possible reason for a lower than expected estimate of energy intake when using 24-hour recalls.