Food composition databases for effective quality nutritional care.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The main aim of this study was to validate a nutrient-estimation method applied using OPEN, a Slovenian platform for clinical nutrition. As the most desirable validation is a direct comparison of the calculated values with the values obtained from a chemical analysis of the same food, we performed a chemical analysis and a calculation for a representative set of daily meals (n=20) and compared the data. The secondary aim was to evaluate the usability of the OPEN for dietary assessment.

METHODS

We used a Student's t test to observe any differences between the analysed and calculated nutrient-content data, considering the 0.01 significance level.

RESULTS

No statistically significant differences were observed in the mean contents of energy, total dietary fibre, water, macro-nutrients, and selected essential minerals: Ca, Fe, Mg, Zn, Na, P, Cu and I. We notice statistically significant difference in the mean calculated and analytical values of selenium.

CONCLUSIONS

We noticed remarkable, but not statistically significant, difference in the mean values of iodine (-11%). The present study also indicates that the OPEN is a useful and cost-effective tool for both dieticians and patients.