Validation of the Dietary Screening Tool in a Middle‐Aged Appalachian Population

The Dietary Screening Tool (DST) was developed and validated to assess nutritional risk in older adults. The purpose of this study was to assess its use in a middle‐aged sample of adults (45–64 years) in Appalachia (n=87) and evaluate its validity with multiple 24‐hour dietary recalls and selected biomarkers. Adults identified by the DST as at nutrition risk (<60 of 100 points) were significantly more likely to have had lower overall diet quality as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (64 vs 50, p<0.001) when compared to those not at risk or potential risk. Dietary intakes of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, niacin, vitamin K and potassium were also lower among those considered at risk, despite having significantly higher energy intakes (1653 ± 106 vs 2032 ± 76 kcal/day, p=0.004). The diets of those at risk were higher in added sugars (33 g vs 23 g, P=0.005) and lower in dietary fiber (10 g vs 12 g, p<0.001) than those not at risk. The at risk group had significantly lower serum levels of 13‐cis‐β carotene (40 vs 60 nmol/L, p<0.02), trans‐ β‐carotene (395 vs 711 nmol/L, p<0.001), β‐Cryptoxanthin (137 vs 198 nmol/L, p<0.01), cis‐Lutein (90 vs 137 nmol/L, p<0.02), and trans‐lutein (292 vs 424 nmol/L, p=0.01). The DST was able to identify middle‐aged adults at nutritional risk. Support or Funding Information USDA Northeast Regional Project NE1439, WVU Health Disparities Mountains of Excellence Flash Funding and the WVU ADVANCE Sponsorship Program.