Consumptions data formats

Consumption data is often collected in 24-hour dietary recall studies and contains the food consumptions and consumption amounts for a number of individuals on a number of days. For each of the individuals, the bodyweight should be specified, and optionally also age, sex, and other properties may be recorded. If applicable, sampling weights may also be specified that can be used to correct the sample of individuals in the survey to a more representative sample of the targetted population. The consumption amounts are usually expressed in grams, but may also be expressed in alternative units of plates, cups, or spoons. Optionally, the uncertainty of food consumption quantifications can be specified, see [42].

Consumptions

Consumption surveys are described using three tables: FoodSurveys, Individuals, and Consumptions. Individuals are linked to food surveys using the survey code (idFoodSurvey), and consumptions are linked to individuals using the individual codes (idIndividual). The food codes used to identify the consumed foods should match with the codes provided by the foods entity definitions.

Food consumption surveys

The records of the food consumption surveys table contain the ids, names, descriptions, and other relevant metadata of consumption surveys.

Table aliases: FoodSurvey, FoodSurveys, Survey, Surveys, RawFoodSurveys.

Table 21 Table definition for FoodSurveys.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idSurvey

AlphaNumeric(50)

Unique identification code of the food consumption survey.

idSurvey, idFoodSurvey, Survey, FoodSurvey, SurveyId, FoodSurveyId, Name, Code, Id

Yes

Description

AlphaNumeric(200)

Description of the food consumption survey.

Description

No

Location

AlphaNumeric(50)

The location or country where survey is held. It is recommended to use ISO Alpha-2 country codes.

Location, Country

No

BodyWeightUnit

BodyWeightUnits

The unit of bodyweight of the individuals of the survey: kg (default) or g.

BodyWeightUnit, UnitBodyWeight, WeightIn

No

AgeUnit

AgeUnit

The unit of age, i.e., year or month.

UnitAge, agein, AgeUnit

No

ConsumptionUnit

ConsumptionUnits

The unit of the use/consumption amounts of the consumptions of the survey: g (default) or kg or CustomUnit (see table food consumption quantifications table).

AmountUnit, UnitAmount, AmountUnit, ConsumptionUnit

No

StartDate

DateTime

The start date of the survey.

StartDate

No

EndDate

DateTime

The end date of the survey.

EndDate

No

NumberOfSurveyDays

Integer

The number of days each individual participated in the survey.

NumberOfSurveyDays, NDaysInSurvey

Yes

idPopulation

AlphaNumeric(50)

Unique identification code of the population.

IdPopulation, PopulationId

No

Individuals

The individuals of a survey are recorded in the individuals table.

Table aliases: Individuals, Individual, RawIndividuals.

Table 22 Table definition for Individuals.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idIndividual

AlphaNumeric(50)

Unique identification code of the individual.

idIndividual, IndividualId, Individual, Id

Yes

idFoodSurvey

AlphaNumeric(50)

The identification code / short name of survey.

idSurvey, idFoodSurvey, Survey, FoodSurvey, SurveyId, FoodSurveyId, SurveyCode

Yes

BodyWeight

Numeric

The body weight of the individual.

BodyWeight, Weight

Yes

SamplingWeight

Numeric

The sampling weight for an individual (default = 1).

SamplingWeight

No

NumberOfSurveyDays

Integer

The number of days the individual participated in the survey.

NumberOfSurveyDays, NumberOfDaysInSurvey, DaysInSurvey, NDaysInSurvey

No

Age

Numeric

The age of the individual.

Age

No

Gender

AlphaNumeric(50)

The gender of the individual. It is recommended to use the codes Male/Female for coding the gender.

Gender

No

Other inidividual properties

Other individual properties can be added just like the fields age and gender. These properties are automatically parsed as co-factors or co-variables.

No

Individual properties

Individual properties, additional columns that can also be specified as additional columns in the Individuals table

Table aliases: IndividualProperties, IndividualProperty, RawIndividualProperties.

Table 23 Table definition for IndividualProperties.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

Name

AlphaNumeric(50)

The name of the property.

Id

Yes

Individual property values

Individual property values, additional columns that can also be specified as additional columns in the Individuals table

Table aliases: IndividualPropertyValues, IndividualPropertyValue, RawIndividualPropertyValues.

Table 24 Table definition for IndividualPropertyValues.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idIndividual

AlphaNumeric(50)

The identification number of the Individual.

Id

Yes

PropertyName

AlphaNumeric(50)

The name of the property.

Name

Yes

TextValue

AlphaNumeric(50)

The value of the property as text value.

No

DoubleValue

Numeric

The value of the property as number.

No

Consumptions

The individual consumptions are recorded in the consumptions table.

Table aliases: FoodConsumptions, FoodConsumption, Consumptions, Consumption, RawFoodConsumptions.

Table 25 Table definition for Consumptions.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idIndividual

AlphaNumeric(50)

The unique identification code of the consumer (individual).

idIndividual, IndividualId, Individual

Yes

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The food code (food as eaten code).

idFood, Food, FoodId, FoodConsumed, FoodAsEaten

Yes

idUnit

AlphaNumeric(50)

Identification code of the unit in which the food is consumed (e.g. plate, cup, spoon).

idUnit, Unit, UnitId

No

idDay

AlphaNumeric(50)

Identification code of the day of consumption, sequential number

idDay, DayId, Day, DayOfSurvey

Yes

idMeal

AlphaNumeric(50)

Identification code of the meal (eating occasion within a day).

idMeal, MealId, Meal

No

Amount

Numeric

The consumed portion of food in g (default) or kg or quantity of a plate, cup, spoon. Days without consumptions are not recorded.

Amount, AmountConsumed

Yes

DateConsumed

DateTime

The date of the consumption.

DateConsumed, ConsumptionDate

No

Food consumption quantificiations

Food consumption quantifications record information about food consumption quantities that are associated with unit-consumptions of foods.

Table aliases: FoodConsumptionQuantifications, FoodConsumptionQuantification, RawFoodConsumptionQuantifications.

Table 26 Table definition for FoodConsumptionQuantifications.
Name Type Description Aliases Required

idFood

AlphaNumeric(50)

The food code of the quantification.

idFood, FoodId, Food

Yes

idUnit

AlphaNumeric(50)

The code of the unit of consumption. E.g spoon, plate, cup. Units may depend on food.

idUnit, UnitId, Unit

Yes

UnitWeight

Numeric

The unit weight/portion size of the food, specified in grams.

UnitWeight

Yes

UnitWeightUncertainty

Numeric

The uncertainty in unit weight/portion size (%).

UnitWeightUncertainty, UnitWeight%

No

AmountUncertainty

Numeric

The uncertainty in amount consumed (%). The label ‘general’ specifies a default value for the uncertainty when specific information for combinations of food and unit in food consumptions table is not available.

AmountUncertainty, Amount%

No