Software to record 24-hour food recall: application in the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: The Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA) is a national multicenter study whose purpose is to describe the cardiovascular risk profile, including obesity, changes in lipid and glucose metabolism, and blood pressure, of about 75,000 Brazilian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development of a tool for data collection of 24-hour food recall (REC24h) in ERICA and to report its performance in the pilot study.

METHODS: The Multiple Pass Method was used for the development of the computer program that guides REC24h interview. REC24h-ERICA uses a database composed of 1,626 food items including preparation methods and units of predefined portion sizes. Food consumption data are obtained through interviews and entered directly into REC24h-ERICA, avoiding the use of paper.

RESULTS: The pilot study included 1,367 adolescents, of which 1,047 (77%) responded to REC24h. The researchers did not report difficulties in program use, the average duration of interviews was 20 minutes and the interviewers inserted 50 new food items.

CONCLUSION: The program developed was proven suitable for use in large-population studies, even in a country like Brazil, where there is great diversity in eating habits.