24-Hour dietary recall in patients with bulimia nervosa

The accuracy of 24-hour dietary recall of patients with bulimia nervosa was examined by comparing the actual intake of subjects in a laboratory meal with their reported intake in a 24-hour dietary recall interview. The mean caloric intake of the 15 patients who participated in the study was 1,088 (SD 1,335) kilocalories. There were significant positive correlations between actual and recalled kilocalories (r2 = .97, p < .001), total grams (r2 = .92, p < .001), and grams of macronutrients consumed (protein r2 = .96; fat r2 = .97; carbohydrate r2 = .94; p < .001). However, there was a tendency for patients to overestimate the amount of food they had eaten when actual intake was large.