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Comparison of nutrient intake data calculated on the basis of two different databases. Results and experiences from a Swedish–Finnish study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 57, pages 1035–1044 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Background and objective: In international surveys of food consumption and nutrient intake, it is essential that the dietary data are comparable when different databases and calculation programs are used. The aim of the present analysis was to examine the comparability of nutrient intake data calculated on the basis of the Swedish food composition database PC-kost and the Finnish food composition database Nutrica.

Subjects and methods: A total of 20 male adults currently living in Sweden were selected from a group of Finnish twins of the Finnish Twin Cohort Study. Food consumption data were collected by means of diet history interviews. The estimated intakes of 30 nutrients calculated on the basis of PC-kost were compared to the corresponding estimates calculated on the basis of Nutrica. The calculation procedures were standardised.

Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in the mean intakes of energy, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, alcohol, cholesterol, vitamin A, retinol, β-carotene, vitamin D, α-tocopherol, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B12, vitamin C or phosphorus. PC-kost yielded a 20% higher intake (NS) for vitamin D and 23% higher intake (P<0.001) for thiamine than Nutrica, which is mainly attributed to the differences in the enrichment of foodstuffs between Sweden and Finland. Conversely, PC-kost yielded 53% lower values (P<0.001) for selenium than Nutrica, owing to the increased selenium content in many Finnish foodstuffs as a result of the addition of selenium to fertilisers. Statistically significant differences were found for protein, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamin B6, iron and sodium (5–9% higher values from PC-kost) and for polyunsaturated fatty acids, folate, zinc, calcium, magnesium and potassium (4–10% lower values from PC-kost). The variation in the intake of these nutrients between the two methods may be explained by the differences in foodstuff-specific nutrient values (eg product formulations), or differences in the sources of data, recipes or calculation procedures.

The correlation coefficient was ≥0.81 for most nutrients. At least 85% of the subjects in each PC-kost quintile were classified into the same or adjacent Nutrica quintile for all nutrients.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that, for a dominant part of the examined nutrients, the estimated intakes calculated by means of standardised procedures using the PC-kost and Nutrica databases are comparable between Sweden and Finland. Differences observed for some nutrients reflect either actual differences in foods between the two countries or methodological differences in the assessment of nutrient intakes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Social Insurance Institution, by the Swedish Council for Social Research (Grant No. 97-0329:1B), by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 37487) by the Swedish Medical Research Council (Grant No. K2000-27X-13434-01) and by the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation. We wish to thank Professors Jaakko Kaprio, Markku Koskenvuo and Tapani Rönnemaa for their comments on the manuscript and their role in making possible the migrant study and the clinical sub-study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department of the Social Insurance Institution, Turku, Finland

    P Hakala, L-R Knuts & A Vuorinen

  2. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    N Hammar

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Stockholm Center of Public Health, Stockholm, Sweden

    N Hammar

  4. National Food Administration, Uppsala, Sweden

    W Becker

Authors
  1. P Hakala
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  2. L-R Knuts
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  3. A Vuorinen
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  4. N Hammar
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  5. W Becker
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Contributions

Contributors: PH was responsible for the design and conduct of the study. L-RK and NH contributed to the design of the study design and provided valuable statistical guidance. AV conducted diet history interviews, and coded and entered the food data to the analysis program. WB provided the Swedish food composition database for the study. All investigators were involved in the analysis and interpretation of the results and contributed as co-authors of this paper.

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Correspondence to P Hakala.

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Hakala, P., Knuts, LR., Vuorinen, A. et al. Comparison of nutrient intake data calculated on the basis of two different databases. Results and experiences from a Swedish–Finnish study. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 1035–1044 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601639

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