The Purchasing Method for the Estimation of Vitamins and Minerals Intake of the Adult

Abstract

In industrialized countries, the change in lifestyle, which occurred during the last few decades, and food abundance have brought about a change in eating habits [1]. In the context of this change there can be either an increase or a reduction in energy, but both may involve an inadequate mineral and vitamin intake which may become worse by an increased intake of a more “refined” food. In affluent societies the irrationality of nutritional behavior includes not only the choice of foods, but also the way of preparing and cooking them, the distribution of meals during the day, and some lifestyles that may be connected with the nutritional process. Generally speaking the most frequent errors of the diet, observed in different industrialized countries are as shown in Table 14.1. This trend has been confirmed in France [2,3]. Unfortunately in many countries, including France, there have been only a few surveys of food intake and relative nutritional status; in France most of the available data concern iron.