Evaluation of portion size estimation aids used for meat in dietary surveys

Abstract In three studies, individuals used various PSEAs (bean bag, peg board, ruler, sausage diagram, and size grid) to estimate portion sizes for three different categories of meat (intact cuts of meat, ribs, and link-type sausages). For intact cuts of meat, individuals generally were able to estimate length and width accurately, but had more difficulty estimating thickness regardless of the PSEA used. For ribs, while no PSEA provided an average estimation error less than +40%, a correlation existed between the portion size and average perceived size category (r = +0.89). For link-type sausage portions, a sausage diagram provided average estimations within 15%, decreased the variability of individual errors when compared to a ruler, and was used more frequently than any other PSEA. Results indicate that using PSEAs in conjunction with other estimation strategies for portion estimation is likely to be an effective way to collect consumption data for meats in large-scale dietary surveys.