A critique of two methods for assessing the nutrient adequacy of diets

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1992-05-01
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Nusser, Sarah
Riddick, Howard
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Nusser, Sarah
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Jensen, Helen
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Economics

The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 to teach economic theory as a truth of industrial life, and was very much concerned with applying economics to business and industry, particularly agriculture. Between 1910 and 1967 it showed the growing influence of other social studies, such as sociology, history, and political science. Today it encompasses the majors of Agricultural Business (preparing for agricultural finance and management), Business Economics, and Economics (for advanced studies in business or economics or for careers in financing, management, insurance, etc).

History
The Department of Economic Science was founded in 1898 under the Division of Industrial Science (later College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); it became co-directed by the Division of Agriculture in 1919. In 1910 it became the Department of Economics and Political Science. In 1913 it became the Department of Applied Economics and Social Science; in 1924 it became the Department of Economics, History, and Sociology; in 1931 it became the Department of Economics and Sociology. In 1967 it became the Department of Economics, and in 2007 it became co-directed by the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business.

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1898–present

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  • Department of Economic Science (1898–1910)
  • Department of Economics and Political Science (1910-1913)
  • Department of Applied Economics and Social Science (1913–1924)
  • Department of Economics, History and Sociology (1924–1931)
  • Department of Economics and Sociology (1931–1967)

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Abstract

The adequacy of diets can be assessed using several analytical approaches. This paper reviews two methods of assessment: a cutoff method, which estimates the percentage of the population having usual intakes below a given value; and a probability method, which assesses the percentage of the population whose usual intakes are below their individual requirements. First, the concept of usual nutrient intakes and the problems associated with estimating usual intake distributions are discussed. Next, the two methods of dietary assessment and their related assumptions are described and compared. The more specific inference of the probability method is shown to rely on its assumptions and data that are currently not available. While the cutoff method is simpler, its use may result in misclassification errors and its estimates are highly influenced by the cut-off standard selected.

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This article is from Journal of Nutrition Education 24 (1992): 123–129, doi:10.1016/S0022-3182(12)81038-7.

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