Beverage and water intake of healthy adults in some European countries

Abstract

Introduction: Nutritional surveys frequently collect some data of consumption of beverages; however, information from different sources and different methodologies raises issues of comparability. The main objective of this review was to examine the available techniques used for assessing beverage intake in European epidemiological studies and to describe the most frequent method applied to assess it. Materials and methods: Information of beverage intake available from European surveys and nutritional epidemiological investigations was obtained from gray literature. Results: Twelve articles were included and relevant data were extracted. The studies were carried out on healthy adults by different types of assessments. The most frequent tool used was a 7-d dietary record. Only Germany used a specific beverage assessment tool (Beverage Dietary History). Conclusion: From the limited data available and the diversity of the methodology used, the results show that consumption of beverages is different between countries. Current epidemiological studies in Europe focusing on beverage intake are scarce. Further research is needed to clarify the amount of beverage intake in European population.

• Beverages
• epidemiological European studies
• water

Acknowledgements

Mariela Nissensohn and Lluis Serra-Majem contributed to the design of the strategy for the literature search. Lluis Serra-Majem prepared the main outline of the manuscript. Mariela Nissensohn helped selecting the data and writing the manuscript. Itandehui Castro-Quezada contributed to the selection of studies and data extraction. All authors contributed to the preparation of the final manuscript. The authors acknowledge Dacil Sánchez Rodriguez from the International Polytechnic College, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain and Daniel Fuentes Lugo from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Unacar, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico for the support provided in assistance with the redaction of the paper.