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Concepts, methods and data quality

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Data in the compendium are from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS): Cycle 2.2, Nutrition, which was designed to collect information about the food and nutrient intakes of Canadians. The CCHS excludes members of the regular Canadian Forces and people living in the territories, on Indian reserves, in institutions, in some remote regions, and all residents (military and civilian) of Canadian Forces bases. Detailed descriptions of the CCHS design, sample and interview procedures are available in a published report (Béland 2002).

A total of 35,107 people completed an initial 24-hour dietary recall. A subsample of 10,786 completed a second recall three to ten days later. A five-step method was used to maximize recollection of food consumed the previous day:

  • a quick enumeration of the foods;
  • questions about specific food categories and frequently forgotten foods;
  • questions about the time and the kind of meal;
  • a precise description of the foods and the quantities consumed;
  • a final review.

The response rate for the first interview was 76.5%. The response rate for the second interview was 72.8%. Composition of the food in terms of macro- and micronutrients came from the Canadian Nutrient file 2001b Supplement of Health Canada.

A total of 112 cases with invalid intake and 20 cases with null intake were excluded from this analysis. Pregnant women (175), women who were breastfeeding (91), and 4-year-old children who were being breastfed (3) were also excluded. Children under age 1 were not analyzed.

Data from both interview days were used to estimate usual intake using the Software for Intake Distribution Estimation (SIDE) program (Novenario 1996; Dodd 2006).

The bootstrap method, which takes account of the complex survey design, (Rao, Wu, Yue 1992; Rust, Rao 1996; Yeo, Mantel, Liu 1999) was used to estimate standard errors, coefficients of variation and confidence intervals. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.

For more details on the non-default model options that were used to create the tables, please consult the
SIDE Non-defaut Model Options document.