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 targeted 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 [Souverein et al., 2011].
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.
| 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.
| 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 individual 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 |
IndividualDays¶
The individuals and days in the survey are recorded in the individualDays table.
Table aliases: IndividualDays, IndividualDay.
| Name | Type | Description | Aliases | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
idIndividual |
AlphaNumeric(50) |
The identification code of the individual. |
idIndividual, IndividualId, Individual, Id |
Yes |
idDay |
AlphaNumeric(50) |
Identification code of the day of consumption, sequential number |
idDay, DayId, Day, DayOfSurvey |
Yes |
SamplingDate |
DateTime |
The date of the consumption. |
Date, SamplingDate, SurveyDate |
No |
Individual properties¶
Individual properties, additional columns that can also be specified as additional columns in the Individuals table
Table aliases: IndividualProperties, IndividualProperty.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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 quantifications¶
Food consumption quantifications record information about food consumption quantities that are associated with unit-consumptions of foods.
Table aliases: FoodConsumptionQuantifications, FoodConsumptionQuantification.
| 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 |