Developing Biomarkers of Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice - HBGD

Women were instructed not to change their food consumption patterns during the data collection.

Dietary intake data were recorded on three non-consecutive days by trained community health workers (cadres) who conducted 12-hour in-home weighed food records (6 am-6 pm) using calibrated digital scales accurate to ±1 g (Kitchen Scale EK3131, Camry Electronic Ltd, Guangdong, China). These records were combined with maternal 12-hour recall of any foods consumed over the previous 6 pm-6 am period. The next morning, cadres weighed replicas of the amount of recalled foods or beverages consumed using, where possible, leftover foods or beverages. For the small number of irregularly shaped food items with no leftovers, playdough equivalent to the amount of food consumed and of known specific gravity was weighed, allowing the volume of playdough to be estimated. As the volume of the playdough was assumed to be the same as the volume of the food eaten, the latter was converted to the weight of the actual food consumed using food density data compiled by the investigator or derived from the Density Database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS).