Gurinović Mirjana, Nikolić Marina, Zeković Milica, Milešević Jelena, Kadvan Agnes, Ranić Marija, Glibetić Maria
Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of Republic of Serbia, Centre of Research Excellence in Nutrition and Metabolism, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Capacity Development Network in Nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe (CAPNUTRA), Belgrade, Serbia.
Front Nutr. 2022 Jan 20;8:809328. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.809328. eCollection 2021.
Initiatives in the Capacity Development in Nutrition Research in the Balkan region in the last decade have been toward the creation of contemporary, harmonized Research Infrastructure (RI) compliant with European standards. This study describes the process of creation and implementation of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) EU Menu methodology in the Balkan region during the EFSA support projects for food consumption data collection in four countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia). This process entailed the application and improvement of an innovative tool, the DIET ASSESS and PLAN (DAP), a platform for standardized food consumption data collection and dietary intake assessment. DAP comprises computerized food consumption, anthropometric measurements, and physical activity questionnaires, validated food picture book, and FoodEx2 exposure hierarchy with sets of facet descriptors of the interest. It hosts the Balkan food platform with a Serbian food composition database (FCDB) and Regional FCDB, compliant with European Food Information Resource (EuroFIR™) standards. The implementation of the DAP platform in national dietary surveys conducted with the support of the EFSA EU Menu project in Balkan countries enabled harmonized food consumption data compilation and reporting. Application of the methodology entailed the development of study protocol and extensive education and training of study personnel. The entire data collection process was managed by internal and external survey coordinators. A pilot study was conducted to test the entire data collection and control process and was afterward used to make necessary improvements and adjustments to meet EU Menu requirements. Data collected are internationally comparable with food consumption data in other European countries within the framework of the EU Menu program. The existence of such data in the Balkan region will catalyze research activities in emerging topics, such as identification of dietary patterns, the establishment of national nutrient reference values and food-based dietary guidelines (not only in Serbia, but in the whole Balkan region), dietary exposure assessments, the endorsement and evaluation of new food legislations, the environmental and other effects of diet on the food system. The developed and implemented methodology underpins evidence-based policy-making processes lacking in the field of public health nutrition in the region.
过去十年间，巴尔干地区营养研究能力发展的举措一直致力于创建符合欧洲标准的当代统一研究基础设施（RI）。本研究描述了在欧洲食品安全局（EFSA）支持的四个国家（塞尔维亚、黑山、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那以及北马其顿）开展的食品消费数据收集项目中，巴尔干地区创建和实施EFSA欧盟菜单方法的过程。这一过程需要应用和改进一种创新工具——饮食评估与规划（DAP），这是一个用于标准化食品消费数据收集和膳食摄入量评估的平台。DAP包括计算机化的食品消费、人体测量和身体活动问卷、经过验证的食品图片集以及带有感兴趣的方面描述符集的FoodEx2暴露等级。它拥有一个带有塞尔维亚食品成分数据库（FCDB）和区域FCDB的巴尔干食品平台，符合欧洲食品信息资源（EuroFIR™）标准。在EFSA欧盟菜单项目支持下，在巴尔干国家进行的全国膳食调查中实施DAP平台，实现了食品消费数据的统一汇编和报告。该方法的应用需要制定研究方案，并对研究人员进行广泛的教育和培训。整个数据收集过程由内部和外部调查协调员管理。进行了一项试点研究，以测试整个数据收集和控制过程，随后用于进行必要的改进和调整，以满足欧盟菜单的要求。收集到的数据在欧盟菜单计划框架内与其他欧洲国家的食品消费数据具有国际可比性。巴尔干地区存在此类数据将促进新兴主题的研究活动，如确定饮食模式、建立国家营养参考值和基于食物的膳食指南（不仅在塞尔维亚，而且在整个巴尔干地区）、膳食暴露评估、新食品立法的认可和评估、饮食对食品系统的环境和其他影响。所开发和实施的方法为该地区公共卫生营养领域缺乏的循证决策过程提供了支持。
