1. NS 210 – Unit 3 Seminar Measuring Diets and Interview Techniques
Jennifer Neily, MS, RD, CSSD, LD
Registered/Licensed Dietitian
Kaplan University

2. Overview of Chapter 3
Factors that influence selection of dietary methods
Different Techniques in Measuring diet
Strengths and Limitations
Validating Dietary Methods
Research Design Considerations
Correlation Studies
Case Control Studies
Cohort studies
Correlational – compare the level of some factor (for eg sat fat) with the level of another (CVD mortality) in the same population. Figure 3.1 eg
Case control – researchers compare people who do and do not have a given condition such as a disease closely matching them in age gender and other key variables so that differences in other factors will stand out. These differences may account for the condition in the group that has it. Ex people with goiter lack iodine in their diets.
Cohort – researchers analyze data collected from a selected group of people (a cohort) at intervals over a certain period of time ex. Data collected periodically from over 5000 people randomly selected from the town of Framingham MA in 1948 have revealed that the risk of heart disease increases as blood cholesterol increases

3. Reasons for Measuring Diet
“TO IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH”
4 Major Uses Of Dietary Intake Data
Assessing and monitoring intake
Formulating and evaluating government and agricultural policy
Epidemiologic research
Commercial purposes
This is how we know that caloric consumption has increased avg from 2057 in 1970 to 2405 in 1990 to 2674 in 2007 – an increase of
617cal per day! That accounts for an over 60lb increase in wt.
Assessing dietary status includes considering the types and amounts of foods consumed and the intake of the nutrients and other components contained in foods. When food consumption data are combined with information on the nutrient composition of food, the intake of particular nutrients and other food components can be estimated.
Why measure diet? The ultimate reason is to improve human health. Nutritional problems are at the foot of the leading causes of death, particularly in developed nations. Food and nutrient intake data are critical for investigating the relationships between diet and these diseases, identifying groups at risk for nutrient deficiency or excess, and formulating food and nutrition policies for disease reduction and health promotion. In general, however, there are four major used of dietary intake data: assessing and monitoring food and nutrient intake, formulating and evaluating government health and agricultural policy, conducting epidemiologic research, and using the data for commercial purposes.

4. Assessing and Monitoring Food and Nutrient Intake
Ensuring adequacy of the food supply
Estimating the adequacy of dietary intakes of individuals and groups
Monitoring trends in food and nutrient consumption
Estimating exposure to food additives and contaminants
Data from national surveys and food disappearance indicated the adequacy of food, energy and nutrient supply.
Individual nutrient intake data combined with anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical measures allow assessment of nutritional status.
The proportion of group members having adequate or inadequate intake of a particular nturient can be determined when the average group intake and the distribution of that intake are known.
Trends in percent of energy from fat , carbohydrates and protein per person can be derived from dietary surveys and food disappearance data

5. Figure 1
Mean intakes of energy from solid fats and from added sugars by age/sex group.
These next two graphs from the JADA discussing how the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been evaluated. These were some of the
Mean intakes of energy from solid fats and from added sugars by age/sex group.
Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2010; 110: (DOI: /j.jada )
Copyright © 2010 American Dietetic

6. Figure 3
Dietary intakes compared with recommended intake levels or limits. Bars show mean intakes for of all individuals (ages 1+ or 2+) as a percentage of the recommended intake level or limit. Recommended intakes for food groups and limits for refined grains, solid fats, and added sugars are based on the US Department of Agriculture 2,000-calorie food pattern. Limits for sodium are based on the tolerable upper intake level and saturated fat on 7% of energy.
Source: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2010; 110: (DOI: /j.jada )

7. Formulating and Evaluating Government Health & Agricultural Policy
Planning food production and distribution
Establishing food production and distribution
Establishing programs for nutrition education and disease risk reduction
Evaluating the success and cost-effectiveness of nutrition education and disease risk reduction programs
Data indicating a marginal or an inadequate supply of energy and/or nutrients can provide direction for planning food production, regulating food imports and exports, and setting priorities for food aid.
Food consumption data allow certain groups or income levels to be targeted for food assistance programs, such as WIC, food stamps, and the school lunch program
National and individual consumption data allow identification of potentials problems to be addressed by food regulation (e.g labeling) and programs for food enrichment or fortification.

8. Conducting Epidemiologic Research
Studying the relationships between diet and health
Identifying groups at risk of developing diseases because of their diet and/or nutrient intake
Epidemiologic studies determine the incidence and distribution of diseases in a population.
The purpose of many studies is to investigate the relationship between dietary and nutritional intake and health disease – for example, the relationships between diet and coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension, and anemia
Nutrient consumption data who that women of childbearing age often have low folate intake, which increased the risk of their children being born with neural tube defects
Discuss example of omega 3 fatty acids

9. Commercial Purposes
Data from national nutrition surveys are used by the food manufacturers to develop advertising campaigns or new food products
Data from national nutrition surveys are used by food manufacturers to develop advertising campaigns or new food products

10. Measuring Diet
Most widely used indirect indicator of nutritional status
Estimating intake can be difficult
Weakness of data-gathering techniques
Human behavior
Natural tendency of intake
Limitations of nutrient composition tables and databases
Measurement of nutrient intake is probably the most widely use indirect indicator of nutritional status. It is used routinely in national nutrition monitoring surveys, epidemiologic studies, nutrition studies of free-living participants (those living outside a controlled setting), and various federal and state health and nutrition program evaluations. To the uninitiated, the measurement of nutrient intake may appear to be straightforward and fairly easy. However estimating an individuals usual dietary and nutrient intake is difficult. The task is complicated by weaknesses of data-gathering techniques, human behavior, the natural tendency of an individuals nutrient intake to vary considerably from day to day, and the limitations of nutrient composition tables and databases. Despite the weaknesses, nutrient intake data are valuable in assessing nutritional status when used in conjunction with anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical data.
Various methods for collecting food consumption data are available. It is important to note, however, that no single best method exists, and diet measurement will always be accompanied by some degree of error. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Despite these disadvantages and the inevitability of error, properly collected and analyze, dietary intake data have considerable value. Being informed about the strengths and weaknesses of the methods available will better enable you to scrutinize nutrition research and to draw your won conclusions about a study’s results. It will also allow the researchers to choose the approach best suited for the task and enable them to use the methods in ways that improve data quality.

11. Methods for Measuring Intake
24-hour recall
Food Record or Diary
Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs)
Diet History
Duplicate Food Collections
Food Accounts
Food Balance Sheets
Photographic and Digital Video Methods
Some of these you may encounter more than others in your future careers.

12. 24-Hour Recall Strengths Limitations Requires less than 20 minutes
Inexpensive
Easy to administer
Low respondent burden
Can provide detail info on types of food consumed
Probability sampling possible
More objective than dietary history
Does not alter usual diet
Limitations
One recall is seldom representative of a person’s usually intake
Underreporting/ over-reporting occurs
Relies on memory
Omissions of dressings, sauces, and beverages can lead to low estimates of energy intake
May be a tendency to over-report intake at low levels and over-report intake at high levels of consumption
Data entry can be very labor intensive
NHANES – National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey uses this method.
In the dietary recall method, a trained interviewer asks the respondent to recall in detail all the food and drink consumed during a period of time in the recent past. The interviewer then records this information for later coding and analysis. In most instances, the time period is the previous 24 hours. Occasionally, however, the time period is the previous 48 hours, the past 7 days or in rare instances even the preceding month. However, memories of intake may fade rather quickly beyond the most recent day or two, so that loss in accuracy may exceed gain in representativeness.
Can YOU remember what you ate last night? Often interviewers will start with the most recent meal and work backwards.
Example of how might be done:
Record the list of foods as the they remember them; portion sizes and preparation methods will be recorded in the next step. This list of foods is termed the quick list. To obtain this list of foods from the participant use the following types of probes to find what foods were eaten:
A. The first type of probing is related to time. Examples:
“At what time was this? Did you eat or drink anything before or after that?”
“What did you have at that time?”
“At what time did you go to bed?”
B. The second type of probe is related to the participant’s activities.
Examples:
“What did you do this morning?”
“While you were working around the house, did you take a break to have something to eat or drink?”
“Did you watch TV last night? When you watched TV, did you eat anything?”
“Did you have anything to drink with this?”
C. The third type of probe tries to get more complete information about foods already reported.
“Do you remember anything else that you ate or drank with this food?”
“What else did you have at this meal?”
“Was the (bread, vegetable) eaten plain or did you put something on it?
“Did you have anything in your coffee?”
“Did you have a second helping?”

13. Food Record or Food Diary
An extensive record of log including brands and portions of all foods eaten over the course of several days or weeks.
A diary may include more information like when, where, and with whom.
So how might this be used as a clinician?
Often used to generate a computer analysis

14. Figure 9.9: Food Record.
The entries in a food record should include the times and places of meals and snacks, the types and amounts of foods eaten, and a description of the individual’s feelings when eating. The diary should also record physical activities: the kind, the intensity level, the duration, and the person’s feelings about them.

15. One month “Billy C” client food record

16. Food Record or Diary Strengths Limitations Does not depend on memory
Can provide detailed intake data
Can provide data about eating habits
Multiple-day data more representative of usually intake
Reasonably valid up to 5 days
Limitations
Requires high degree of cooperation
Response burden can result in low response rates when used in large national surveys
Subject must be literate
Takes more time to obtain data
Act of recording may alter diet
Analysis is labor intensive and expensive.
Must know portions and be able to estimate
In this method, the respondent records, at the time of consumption, the identity and amounts of all foods and beverages consumed for a period of time, usually ranging from 1-7 days. In many instance household measures' such as cups , tablespoons, and teaspoons or measurements made with a ruler are sued to quantify portion size. This method is sometimes referred to as the estimated food record because portion sizes are estimated or household measures are used. When food is weighed, the record may be referred to as a weighed food record.
In some studies though when asked directly 30 to 50% of the respondents reported eating differently…changing eating habits.

17. 6.3oz 11oz 5.3oz 8.6oz 11.4oz 15.3oz
“I ate a bowl of cereal”….
Top right 3”high x 5” wide white bowl

19. Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ)
Assess energy and/or nutrient intake by determining frequency of intake
Usually 150 foods or less. What food and how often
May take 7 – 60 minutes depending on complexity of FFQ
May provide visual pictures/graphics to help assess portion
Food frequency questionnaires assess energy and/or nutrient intake by determining how frequently a person consumes a limited number of foods that are major sources of nutrients or of a particular dietary component in question. The questionnaires consist of a list of approximately 150 or fewer foods or food groups that are important contributors to the population’s intake of energy and nutrients. Respondents indicate how many times a day, week, month or year that they usually consume the foods.

20. Food Frequency Questionniares
Strengths
Usually self administered
Computer read
Modest demand on respondents
Relatively inexpensive for large sample sizes
May be more representative of usual intake than food diary
Design can be based on large population data
Considered by some as the method of choice for research on diet-disease relationships
Limitations
May not represent usual foods or portion sizes chosen
Intake data can be compromised when multiple foods are grouped within single listings
Depend on ability of subject to describe diet
Example (limitation of intake data being compromised) – do you eat deli meat – not specifying turkey, ham, salami bologna

21. Figure 3.3 examples of 3 FFQ formats – very simple and rudimentary
Figure 3.3 a short FFQ known as a screener by Natl Cancer Institute to assess an individuals percentage of fat in their diet
Also appendixes D,E,F,G

22. Block Questionnaires Very popular in research setting
Solid history of validation
Evidence based results used in hundreds of research studies.
Multiple versions: long, short, fruits/veggies, meat, soy, nutrients, adults, children, physical activity
Food Frequency Questionnaires for Adults
This full-length (approximately 110 food item) questionnaire was designed to estimate usual and customary intake of a wide array of nutrients and food groups. It takes minutes to complete and is intended for either self- or interviewer-administration. Both the food list for this questionnaire and nutrient database for its analysis were developed from more recent data than used for the Block 1998 FFQ. The food list was developed from NHANES dietary recall data; the nutrient database was developed from the USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS), version 1.0. A series of "adjustment" questions provide greater accuracy in assessing fat and carbohydrate intake. Individual portion size is asked for each food, and pictures are provided to enhance accuracy of quantification.
Block Questionnaire — 2005 FFQ
Block Questionnaire — 2008 FFQ for Dialysis Patients
Block Questionnaire — 2005 FFQ Spanish Version
Block Fruit/Vegetable/Fiber Screener
Block Questionnaire — Block Brief 2000 FFQ
Block Questionnaire — 1998 FFQ
Block Calcium/Vitamin D Screener
This brief screening tool was developed from the NHANES dietary recall data. It includes 21 questions. Portion sizes are not asked. It takes 5-8 minutes to complete and provides separate estimates of total, supplement and food-only intake. Also available in Spanish.
Block Folic Acid/Dietary Folate Equivalents Screener
This brief screening tool was developed from the NHANES dietary recall data. It includes 19 food items, 3 supplement questions, and questions to adjust for food fortification practices. This screener takes 7-8 minutes to complete.
Block Soy Foods Screener
Block Questionnaire for Ages 2-7 — 2004 FFQ
Food Frequency Questionnaires and Screeners for Children and Adolescents
This brief screening tool includes 10 food/supplement items and takes 5 minutes to complete. This screener was designed to measure intake of daidzein, genistein, coumestrol and total isoflavones. It may be used as a stand-alone survey tool or combined with a full-length food frequency questionnaire.
This questionnaire includes about 90 questions and asks about a child's "usual eating habits in the past 6 months." It takes a caregiver or interviewer approximately 30 minutes to complete. The food list was developed from NHANES III dietary recall data. The nutrient database was developed from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Individual portion size is asked for beverages but not other foods.
The questionnaire includes 77 food items and takes 25 minutes to complete. The food list for this questionnaire was developed from the NHANES dietary recall data. The nutrient database was developed from the USDA Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, version 1.0. Individual portion size is asked, and pictures are provided to enhance accuracy of quantification.
Block Questionnaire for Ages 8-17 — 2004 FFQ
Block Questionnaire for Ages 8-17 — 2004 FFQ Spanish Version
These screeners are designed to assess children's intake by food group, with outcomes measured in number of servings. One version asks about food eaten "yesterday," and a second version about food eaten "last week." The focus of these tools is on intake of fruit and fruit juices, vegetables, potatoes (including French fries), whole grains, meat/poultry/fish, dairy, legumes, saturated fat, "added sugars" (in sweetened cereals, soft drinks, and sweets), glycemic load and glycemic index. A secondary analysis produces estimates for intake of sugary beverages (both kcal and frequency). Individual portion sizes are asked. This questionnaire was designed for self-administration by children with the assistance of parent or caregiver, as needed. These screeners take about minutes to complete. The "last week" version is available in Spanish.
Block Food Screeners for Ages
This FFQ is also available in a Spanish version, with additional food items typical of diets among Hispanics. Contact us for a sample or more detail about added foods.
Physical Activity Surveys and Screeners
This tool is designed to measure total average energy expenditure per day, as well as minutes per day of moderate and vigorous activities, and average MET-minutes by activity type. The form assesses job type and time, frequency and duration of the 26 most relevant daily-life and leisure time activities as determined by analysis of the Human Activities Patterns Survey data. It takes minutes to complete.
Block Energy Expenditure Survey — Adults
Other Surveys and Screeners Meat FFQ — Adults
Block Physical Activity Screener — Adults and Children
This FFQ, containing 67 questions and focusing solely on consumption of meat and fish, was designed to assess intake of heterocyclic amines, carcinogens found in cooked meat and fish. Questions include frequency of intake and usual portion size during the past year, as well as cooking method, doneness and cooking location.

23. Diet History Limitations Strengths Lengthy interview process
Requires highly trained interviewers
Difficult and expensive to code
May tend to overestimate nutrient intake
Requires cooperative respondent with ability to recall usual diet
Strengths
Assesses usually nutrient intake
Can detect seasonal changes
Data on all nutrients can be obtained
Can correlate well with biochemical means
Diet history is used to assess an individual's usual dietary intake over an extended period of time, such as the past month or year. Traditionally, the diet history approach has been associated with the method of assessing a respondents usual diet developed by B.S. Burke during the 1940’s.
Burke’s original method involved fours steps:
Collect general information about the respondent’s health habits
Question the respondent about his or her usually eating pattern
Perform a cross-check on the data given in step2
Have the respondent complete a 3- day food record

24. Food Accounts Strengths Limitations
Suitable for use with large sample size
Can be used over relatively long periods
Gives data on dietary patterns and habits of families and other groups
Less likely to lead to alterations in diet than some other methods
Relatively economical
Limitations
Does not account for food losses
Respondent literacy and cooperation necessary
Not appropriate for measuring individual food consumption
Food accounts are used to measure dietary intake within households and institutions where congregate feeding is practices, such as penal institutions, nursing homes, military bases, and boarding schools. The methods accounts for all food on hand in the home or institution at the beginning of the survey period, all that is purchased or grown throughout the period, and all that remains by the end of the survey. Inventories establish amounts of food on had at the beginning and ending of the survey period, and invoices or other accounting methods provide records of food purchased or obtained from a farm or garden. Trained personnel make site visits at the beginning and ending of the survey period and as necessary throughout the period to assist in recordkeeping. The daily mean consumption per person is calculated for each food item from the total amount of food consumed during the survey period and the number of people in the household or institution.

25. Food Balance Sheet Strengths Limitations
Can give a total view of a country’s food supplies
Indicates food habits and dietary trends
Used to plan international nutrition policies and food programs
May be the only data available on a country’s food consumption practices
Limitations
Accuracy of data may be questionable
Only represents food available for consumption
Does not represent food actually consumed
Does not indicate how food was distributed
Does not account for wasted food
Food balance sheet is a method of indirectly estimating the amounts of food consumed by a country’s population at a certain time. It provides data on food disappearance (sometimes referred to as food availability) rather than actual food consumption. It is calculated using beginning and ending inventories, figures on food production, imports and exports, and adjustments for nonhuman food consumption (for example, cattle feed, pet food, seed, and industrial use). Food disappearance can be though of as the amount of food that “disappears” from the food distribution system. Much of this is purchased by consumers at supermarkets; however, a considerable amount is lost due to spoilage.

26. Other Interview Techniques
Duplicate Food Collection Method
Photographic and Video Records
Computerized Techniques
Duplicate Food Collection Method
Collection of food consumption data generally is not an end in itself but, rather, a means of eventually arriving at an estimate of nutrient intake. When performing duplicated food collections, participants place in collection containers identical portions of all foods and beverages consumed during a specific period. This then is chemically analyzed at a laboratory for nutrient content. To prevent bacterial decomposition of the duplicate samples they should be kept refrigerated and delivered to the lab.
Photographic and Video Records
Several investigators have developed photographic and digital video methods to record dietary intake in an attempt to reduce respondent burden and increase validity of dietary intake data. In these studies, estimates of food consumption based on the examination of photographs or digital video images of the meals of test subject were compares with weight food records made on the same meals. The photographs and digital video images were evaluated by trained observer who estimated the subject food consumption. These estimates compare favorably to the weighed food records, supporting the validity of photographs and digital video images as methods for measuring food intake and estimating food portion size.
Computerized Techniques
To reduce respondent burden and increase validity of dietary intake data and the cost-effectiveness of collecting such data, computerized techniques to record dietary intake have been developed. Researchers at the USDA’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center have developed what they call a Nutrition Evaluation Scale System. Also, computer-assisted self-interviewing has been studies by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

27. Diet analysis programs help people identify high-kcalorie foods and monitor their eating habits.

28. Issues in Dietary Measurement
Validity
Ability of an instrument to measure what it is intended to measure
Reproducibility
The ability of a method to produce the same estimate on two or more occasions
How Many Days?
It is important to know how long a dietary intake must be measure before a sufficiently reliable estimate of usual intake is obtained
Validity is the ability of an instrument to actually measure what it is intended to measure. In most instances, investigators are interested in knowing what a respondent's usual intake is or had been. Thus, validating an instrument involves comparing estimates of intake obtained by that instrument with a respondent's usual intake. Because it is difficult if not impossible to know a person’s true usual intake, investigators must turn to relative, or criterion, validity. Relative or criterion, validity is defined as the comparison of a new instrument with another which has a greater degree of demonstrated, or face validity.
Reproducibility, or reliability, can be defined as the ability of a method to produce the same estimate on two or more occasions, assuming that nothing has changed in the interim. Reproducibility is concerned only with whether a method is capable of providing the same or similar answer two or more time and does not necessarily indicate whether the answer is correct. Reproducibility studies can partially answer the validity question: a method cannot give a correct answer every time unless it gives approximately the same answer each time. Problems in instrument design, respondent instructions, or quality control also can be uncovered by reproducibility studies.
How Many Days? In studies comparing dietary and nutrient intakes with measures of health and disease, it is important to know how long dietary intake must be measured before a sufficiently reliable estimate of usual intake is obtained. A few days of dietary observations, whether by 24-hour recall or foods records, are not sufficient to adequately estimate an individual’s usual intake. Because eating patterns vary between weekdays and weekends and across seasons, it is important to capture eating behavior in all parts of the week and in all seasons of the year.

29. Estimating Portion Sizes
Photographs of food
Geometric Shapes
Measuring
Devices
Lifelike plastic food models
Estimates of portion sizes can be sources of error in measuring dietary intake. A number of tools have been developed to assist respondents in accurately reporting amounts of food consumed. These include photographs of food, geometric shapes of various sizes, measuring devices, and lifelike plastic food models.

30. Portion Control Visual Tips
Deck of cards = 3 oz meat, fish, poultry
Checkbook = 3 oz grilled/baked fish
Baseball = 1 cup greens or cereal; medium fruit
½ baseball = ½ cup cooked rice, pasta, potato
Thumb tip = 1 teaspoon of oil
Fist = 1 cup greens, rice, pasta, potato
Postal stamp = 1 tsp. butter or margarine
CD case = 1 oz bread
Computer mouse = 1 potato
Golf ball = ¼ cup nuts, dried fruit, granola
6-oz yogurt = 6 oz juice
container

31. Estimating Portion Sizes… Portion Distortion!

32. FRENCH FRIES 20 Years Ago Today 210 Calories 2.4 ounces
How many calories are in
today’s portion of fries?
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

33. FRENCH FRIES 20 Years Ago Today 210 Calories 2.4 ounces 610 Calories
400 cal difference
610 Calories
6.9 ounces
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

34. Maintaining a Healthy Weight is a Balancing Act
Calories In = Calories Out
How long will you have to walk leisurely in order to burn those extra 400 calories?*
*Based on 160-pound person
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

35. Calories In = Calories Out
If you walk leisurely for 1 hour and 10 minutes you will burn approximately 400 calories.*
*Based on 160-pound person
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

36. TURKEY SANDWICH 20 Years Ago Today 320 calories
How many calories are in today’s turkey sandwich?
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

37. TURKEY SANDWICH 20 Years Ago Today 320 calories 820 calories
500 cal difference
820 calories
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

38. Calories In = Calories Out
If you ride a bike for 1 hour and 25 minutes, you will burn approximately 500 calories.*
*Based on 160-pound person
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

39. CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD 20 Years Ago Today 390 calories 1 ½ cups
How many calories are in today’s chicken Caesar salad?
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

40. CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD 20 Years Ago Today 3 ½ cups 390 calories 1 ½ cups
Calorie Difference: 400 calories
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

41. Bagel 25 years ago: Today: Calorie difference: 210 140 calories
2 inch diameter
Today:
calories
6 inch diameter
Bagels make a good choice for breakfast or a snack, but over the years the size has grown increasingly large. If you aren’t careful, your healthy bagel could be too much. The 2 inch diameter bagel was the standard size in the past, but is now considered the mini size by today’s standards. Today’s typical bagel is nearly 3 times larger, which amounts to an additional 210 calories. Some of today’s bagels can actually be considered the same as 4 servings of bread.
Calorie difference: 210

42. Blueberry Muffin 25 years ago: Today: Calorie difference: 290
210 calories
1.5 ounces
Today:
500 calories
4 ounces
What’s better in the morning than a warm blueberry muffin right out the oven? 25 years ago, it wasn’t such a bad thing. A 1.5 ounce blueberry muffin (a little larger than today’s mini muffin) was only 210 calories. Compare that to today’s specialty muffins found at bakeries and coffee shops. These weigh in at 4 ounces and contain 500 calories (or more)! The difference amounts to 290 calories. You could have two of the 1.5 ounce muffins for fewer calories than the one 4 ounce muffin and save 80 calories.
Calorie difference: 290 42

43. Calorie difference: 220+++
Chocolate Chip Cookie
25 years ago:
55 calories
1.5 inch diameter
Today:
calories
inch diameter
A chocolate chip cookie makes a sweet treat as dessert or a snack. A 1.5 inch diameter chocolate chip cookie was once the standard and was only 55 calories, which pales in comparison to today’s cookies. Most chocolate chip cookies today are 3.5 inches in diameter and contain 275 calories. The calorie difference is 220 calories and that’s just if you eat one!
Calorie difference:

44. Stuff you need to know! Always check announcements and your email.
Unit 5 midterm coming up. Information posted in Doc Sharing. It’s worth 140 points – 14% of your grade!
New categories added in Doc Sharing:
APA info, samples and formatting
Turnitin.com and plagiarism
Project info