Supermarket Transaction Records In Dietary Evaluation: the STRIDE study: validation against self-reported dietary intake.

objectiveScalable methods are required for population dietary monitoring. The Supermarket Transaction Records In Dietary Evaluation (STRIDE) study compares dietary estimates from supermarket transactions with an online FFQ.

designParticipants were recruited in four waves, accounting for seasonal dietary variation. Purchases were collected for 1 year during and 1 year prior to the study. Bland-Altman agreement and limits of agreement (LoA) were calculated for energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat, protein and sodium (absolute and relative).

settingThis study was partnered with a large UK retailer.

participantsTotally, 1788 participants from four UK regions were recruited from the retailer's loyalty card customer database, according to breadth and frequency of purchases. Six hundred and eighty-six participants were included for analysis.

resultsThe analysis sample were mostly female (72 %), with a mean age of 56 years (sd 13). The ratio of purchases to intakes varied depending on amounts purchased and consumed; purchases under-estimated intakes for smaller amounts on average, but over-estimated for larger amounts. For absolute measures, the LoA across households were wide, for example, for energy intake of 2000 kcal, purchases could under- or over-estimate intake by a factor of 5; values could be between 400 kcal and 10000 kcal. LoA for relative (energy-adjusted) estimates were smaller, for example, for 14 % of total energy from saturated fat, purchase estimates may be between 7 % and 27 %.

conclusionsAgreement between purchases and intake was highly variable, strongest for smaller loyal households and for relative values. For some customers, relative nutrient purchases are a reasonable proxy for dietary composition indicating utility in population-level dietary research.