Scheme 1 – Description of the databases used in the Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06.
Name / N. of items / DescriptionFood Descriptions Database (FDD) / 3000 / This database contains food terms associated with a food terminology code.
It is used to help the fieldworkers in codifying food items with the correct food code. It allows to manage more descriptors for similar foods (dialectic food names, different terms to define the same food, etc.).
Food names consider also common usage and regional varitation, as well as standard nomenclature.
Food Energy and Nutrient Composition Database
(FENCD) / 1362 / FENCD includes 1244 food items and 118 supplements (food supplements and medicines susceptible to contains minerals and vitamins).
Each entry consists of values for energy and 36 nutrients, of which 7 minerals (iron, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium), and 13 vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin C, vitamin B6, retinol and β-carotene, total vitamin A as retinol equivalents, vitamin E, vitamin D, vitamin B12, niacin, folate and vitamin K).
The analyses perfomed for the present paper do not consider the intake for sodium, niacin, folate and vitamin K
The energy and nutrients contents are based on Italian Food Consumption Tables (Marletta and Carnovale, 2002; Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, 1998). Where needed, food composition tables from other countries (National Public Health Institute, 2007; Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary Research, 2005; German Research Institute for Food Chemistry, 2007; USDA, 2006) were used to complete missing values relatives to nutrient content and to enter energy and nutrient values of new foods items. Thus, the composition of maternal milk was taken from USDA (2006). Some nutrient values were also derived from the nutritional label of commercial products, on the websites of the food manufacturers and from contact with food manufacturers and retailers.
Fortified foods were recorded with the correct description, the type of nutrient used in the fortification and the brand name (i.e. Fruit orange juice vitamins and fibre added – brand name Daddy). For each fortified food, supplement and for bottled water, the nutrient composition was calculated using the nutrient contents reported in the nutrition label and the food was recorded in FENCD database at level of brand name. The nutrient composition of tap water derive from analytical determinations performed by the ACEA spa company. The FENCD database is complete for all the nutrient content for each food items: for each missing value we used the best estimate figures. Reference source is recorded in the database for each food item and each nutrient.
Food Recipe Database (FRD) / 1100 / This database was used to transform the weight of prepared mixed dishes into the weight of raw single ingredients. It contains a recipe entries for each unique food code in the FDD database. These entries include ingredients and their amounts related to 1,000 grams of cooked mixed dish. Ingredients are identified with codes linking them to the FENCD database of nutrient value.
The recipes present in the FRD database had been carefully developed and refined over many years for INRAN food consumption survey, and prior the INRAN SCAI 2005-2006 survey they had been reviewed and updated.
Also a variety of popular, regional and specialty Italian cookbooks were consulted to aid in constructing representative recipe.
About 430 new recipes were added to the database during the INRAN-SCAI 2005-06 food consumption survey.
In FRD database, recipes frequently contain olive oil as a “default” ingredient, as in the Italian tradition where use of olive oil as added fat is common; other culinary tradition is the use of some drops of alcoholic beverages, usually wine, added during the preparation. Therefore, a standard quantity of 1 grams of wine /kg of cooked food was included in the standard recipe of those dishes that usually add alcoholic beverage during cooking preparation
Food Portion and Weight Database (FPWD) / 9450 / It contains weight of standard portions (small, medium, large) or household units (glasses, spoons, cup, etc). These are used to convert amount of foods reported by respondents into gram weights. The quantity in grams for each portion, unit or household measure is expressed as edible weight, without the waste quantity.
Units for estimating the amount of food eaten vary with the type of food. Typical household measures for single food items included a size description (e.g. small, medium and large unit of vegetables or fruits), and as an “item” (e.g. an egg or a sausage), and spoons, glasses, etc. (e.g. spoons of olive oil, glass of milk). Separate entries are included for different brand names of a food when their package sizes are unique. For example, weights for potato chip packages include 10 brand name entries.
As new foods were added to the food list, new portions were identified. The final database contained 9,450 entries for 2,460 foods, or an average of 3.8 portions per food. However, many foods had only one entry (supplements, fortified food item), while some foods had as many as 15-20 entries (beverages: glasses, cup, spoons, walky cup, different type of bottles, cans, etc.)
- Marletta L. Carnovale E. (eds) (2000) Tabelle di Composizione degli Alimenti. Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e al Nutrizione. Milano: EDRA http://www.int.inran.it/servizi_cittadino/per_saperne_di_piu/tabelle_composizione_alimenti (accessed September 2009)
- Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (1998) Banca Dati di Composizione degli Alimenti per Studi 32 Epidemiologici in Italia [S Salvini, M Parpinel, P Gnagnarella, P Maisonneuve, A Turrini, 33 editors] http://www.ieo.it/bda (accessed September 2009)
- National Public Health Institute (2007) Finnish food composition database. Release 8. National 1 Public Health Institute, Nutrition Unit. Helsinki 2007 http://www.ktl.fi/fineli/ (accessed September 2009)
- Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary Research (2005) Danish Food Composition Databank, 3 revision 6.0 [A Møller, E Saxholt, AT Christensen, HB Hartkopp, YK Hess, editors] http://www.foodcomp.dk/fcdb_default.asp (accessed September 2009)
- German Research Institute for Food Chemistry (2007) Food composition and nutrition tables 6 medpharm online database [Souci, Fachmann, Kraut, editors] based on the 6th edition, revised by Eva Kirchhoff (2005)
- http://www.sfk-online.net/cgi-bin/sfkstart.mysql?language=english (accessed September 2009)
- United States Department of Agriculture (2006) USDA Nutrient Database for Standard 10 Reference, Release 19. Agricultural Research Service http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl (accessed September 2009)
Table A. Typologies of supplements consumed by supplement users, by age and sex - Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06
0-2.9 years / 3-9.9 years / 10-17.9 years / 18-64.9 years / >=65 years / TotalBoth sexes / Both sexes / Males / Females / Males / Females / Males / Females
n. / n. / n. / n. / n. / n. / n. / n. / n.
Vitamin/mineral combination
(with or without proteins) a / 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 13 / 21 / 1 / 40
Multiple vitamins b / 5 / 1 / 1 / 3 / 1 / 8 / 19
Single vitamin c / 1 / 3 / 9 / 2 / 5 / 20
Multiple minerals / 1 / 1 / 5 / 1 / 2 / 10
Single mineral d / 4 / 1 / 9 / 3 / 17
Probiotics e / 4 / 4
Omega6/omega3 / 1 / 3 / 7 / 1 / 1 / 13
Fibre / 2 / 3 / 5
Aminoacid, protein and energy f / 1 / 1 / 4 / 3 / 9
Herbs and botanicals g / 5 / 18 / 4 / 6 / 33
Other supplement h / 1 / 7 / 8
Medicines containing vitamins and minerals i / 1 / 3 / 5 / 3 / 2 / 14
Total supplement users j / 8 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 34 / 72 / 10 / 25 / 157
% in the age class / 15 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 6 / 5 / 8 / 5
a) Supplements with added protein are mainly for hair care; b) Mainly complexes of vitamin B group and complexes of Vitamin A and D; c) Mainly vitamin D3, Folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin C or vitamin E; d) Mainly iron, calcium or fluoride; e) Mainly yeast products; f) Mainly supplements for sport performance; g) Mainly aloe, ginseng and soy lecithin; h) Mainly antioxidants, flavonoids and phytosterol; i) Mainly aspirin with vitamin C j) The total number of supplement users is not the sum of data in columns since some subjects have consumed more than one typology of supplement.
Table B. Intakes of energy and of some nutrients in supplement users (0-99 years) from food only and from food and supplements; percent contribution of supplements to total intakes - Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06
Supplement users (n = 157 males and females)From food only / From food and supplements / Contribution of supplements
to total intake (%)
Mean / SDa / Median / Mean / SDa / Median
Energy (MJ) / 8.9 / 3.1 / 9.1 / 8.9 / 3.1 / 9.1 / 0.0
Energy (kcal) / 2118 / 739 / 2175 / 2129 / 740 / 2178 / 0.5
Protein (g) / 82.4 / 32.8 / 80.4 / 83.5 / 35.1 / 80.4 / 1.3
Fat (g) / 86.0 / 36.5 / 81.6 / 86.2 / 36.5 / 81.7 / 0.2
Available carbohydrate (g) / 257.7 / 92.2 / 258.3 / 258.7 / 92.3 / 263.1 / 0.4
Dietary fibre (g) / 19.8 / 7.7 / 19.4 / 19.9 / 7.7 / 19.6 / 0.5
Minerals:
Potassium (mg) / 3177 / 1230 / 3118 / 3188 / 1230 / 3121 / 0.3
Phosphorus (mg) / 1317 / 485 / 1282 / 1329 / 489 / 1294 / 0.9
Calcium (mg) / 922 / 359 / 880 / 979 / 420 / 915 / 5.8
Magnesium (mg) / 289 / 113 / 286 / 307 / 124 / 294 / 5.9
Iron (mg) / 11.6 / 4.7 / 10.9 / 17.6 / 20.0 / 12.0 / 34.1
Zinc (mg) / 11.7 / 4.9 / 11.3 / 13.5 / 10.8 / 11.8 / 13.3
Vitamins:
Thiamine (mg) / 1.04 / 0.45 / 1.00 / 2.90 / 6.84 / 1.09 / 64.1
Riboflavin (mg) / 1.58 / 0.63 / 1.45 / 2.24 / 1.95 / 1.60 / 29.5
Vitamin C (mg) / 142 / 83 / 118 / 186 / 141 / 168 / 23.7
Vitamin B6 (mg) / 2.0 / 0.9 / 1.9 / 3.9 / 10.1 / 2.2 / 48.7
Vitamin A (RE μg) b / 971 / 1027 / 750 / 1164 / 1216 / 851 / 16.6
Retinol (μg) / 377 / 900 / 259 / 550 / 1107 / 289 / 31.5
β-carotene (μg) / 3563 / 2733 / 2858 / 3681 / 2785 / 2897 / 3.2
Vitamin E (mg) / 13.3 / 6.5 / 13.2 / 24.3 / 53.6 / 14.7 / 45.3
Vitamin D (μg) / 2.5 / 2.4 / 1.6 / 5.4 / 8.1 / 2.4 / 53.7
Vitamin B12 (μg) / 5.3 / 3.8 / 4.4 / 9.1 / 39.7 / 5.2 / 41.8
a) Standard Deviation; b) Vitamin A expressed as retinol equivalents (RE): 1 retinol equivalent (RE) = 1 μg retinol = 6 μg β-carotene
Table C. Intakes of energy and of some nutrients in the total study sample (users and non users of supplements, 0-99 years) from food only and from food and supplements; percent contribution of supplements to total intakes - Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06
From food only / From food and supplements / Contribution of supplements
to total intake (%)
Mean / SDa / Median / Mean / SDa / Median
Energy (MJ) / 8.8 / 2.6 / 8.6 / 8.8 / 2.6 / 8.6 / 0.0
Energy (kcal) / 2109 / 630 / 2050 / 2109 / 630 / 2050 / 0.0
Protein (g) / 82.0 / 24.0 / 80.0 / 82.0 / 24.1 / 80.0 / 0.0
Fat (g) / 84.5 / 27.7 / 82.3 / 84.5 / 27.7 / 82.3 / 0.0
Available carbohydrate (g) / 256.4 / 85.8 / 249.9 / 256.4 / 85.8 / 249.9 / 0.0
Dietary fibre (g) / 18.2 / 7.0 / 17.5 / 18.3 / 7.0 / 17.5 / 0.5
Minerals:
Potassium (mg) / 2956 / 885 / 2893 / 2956 / 884 / 2894 / 0.0
Phosphorus (mg) / 1251 / 366 / 1212 / 1251 / 366 / 1212 / 0.0
Calcium (mg) / 767 / 305 / 729 / 770 / 310 / 730 / 0.4
Magnesium (mg) / 271 / 87 / 261 / 272 / 88 / 261 / 0.4
Iron (mg) / 11.2 / 3.8 / 10.7 / 11.4 / 5.8 / 10.7 / 1.8
Zinc (mg) / 11.2 / 3.6 / 10.9 / 11.3 / 4.2 / 10.9 / 0.9
Vitamins:
Thiamine (mg) / 1.00 / 0.35 / 0.95 / 1.09 / 1.57 / 0.96 / 8.3
Riboflavin (mg) / 1.44 / 0.46 / 1.39 / 1.47 / 0.63 / 1.39 / 2.0
Vitamin C (mg) / 124 / 77 / 107 / 126 / 82 / 109 / 1.6
Vitamin B6 (mg) / 1.9 / 0.6 / 1.8 / 2.0 / 2.3 / 1.8 / 5.0
Vitamin A (RE μg)b / 828 / 887 / 667 / 838 / 901 / 670 / 1.2
Retinol (μg) / 337 / 791 / 240 / 345 / 805 / 242 / 2.3
β-carotene (μg) / 2953 / 2114 / 2367 / 2959 / 2119 / 2373 / 0.2
Vitamin E (mg) / 12.3 / 4.3 / 11.9 / 12.8 / 12.6 / 12.0 / 3.9
Vitamin D (μg) / 2.3 / 2.2 / 1.7 / 2.5 / 2.8 / 1.7 / 8.0
Vitamin B12 (μg) / 5.9 / 4.9 / 4.5 / 6.1 / 9.9 / 4.5 / 3.3
a) Standard Deviation; b) Vitamin A expressed as retinol equivalents (RE): 1 retinol equivalent (RE) = 1 μg retinol = 6 μg β-carotene
Table D. Mean daily energy and nutrient intakes from food in children aged 3 to 6.9 years and in children aged 7-9.9 years - Italian National Food Consumption Survey INRAN-SCAI 2005-06
Mean / SDa / Median / 5thb / 95thb / Mean / SDa / Median / 5thb / 95thb
Energy (MJ) / 7.4 / 2.0 / 7.2 / 4.2 / 10.9 / 8.6 / 1.9 / 8.3 / 5.7 / 12.7
(kcal) / 1759 / 468 / 1714 / 995 / 2594 / 2064 / 461 / 1989 / 1352 / 3026
Protein (g) / 68.4 / 16.9 / 67.1 / 41.0 / 105.7 / 79.6 / 18.3 / 78.0 / 50.5 / 115.8
(g/kg body weight) / 3.5 / 1.1 / 3.4 / 1.6 / 5.7 / 2.6 / 0.7 / 2.6 / 1.5 / 3.7
Fat (g) / 72.1 / 22.1 / 69.0 / 37.1 / 106.3 / 86.7 / 21.3 / 84.5 / 55.5 / 127.1
Saturated fatty acid (g) / 23.0 / 8.3 / 21.4 / 10.4 / 38.2 / 27.7 / 8.1 / 26.5 / 17.3 / 44.1
Monounsaturated fatty acid (g) / 33.7 / 10.7 / 32.8 / 17.3 / 51.5 / 40.2 / 10.3 / 39.4 / 25.8 / 60.5
Polyunsaturated fatty acid (g) / 8.6 / 3.2 / 8.2 / 3.9 / 14.3 / 10.9 / 3.3 / 9.8 / 5.8 / 16.8
Cholesterol (mg) / 266 / 117 / 234 / 123 / 503 / 306 / 117 / 287 / 150 / 499
Available carbohydrate (g) / 222 / 67 / 215 / 114 / 334 / 257 / 68 / 258 / 155 / 399
Soluble carbohydrate (g) / 85 / 32 / 86 / 34 / 136 / 87 / 27 / 88 / 45 / 138
Starch (g) / 124 / 45 / 118 / 61 / 215 / 154 / 48 / 152 / 77 / 248
Dietary fibre (g) / 13 / 5 / 13 / 6 / 22 / 15 / 5 / 15 / 7 / 24
Alcohol (g) / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0