Dietary studies provide elucidative elements that contribute to the comprehension of both dynamics and determination of the several nutritional problems that afflict children of young age. Apart from the need of a respondent (generally one of the child's parent or a caregiver), dietary assessment of young children uses the same inquiry methods applied to people of other ages. The aim of this paper was to identify the most used inquiry methods applied in food consumption investigations of pre-school children, as well as the most common items and ways of analysis employed. It was observed that the studies presented a low comparability due to, among other factors, the use of different ways of analysis and ingestion goals. The 24-hours recall was the most applied method, frequently associated with another inquiry method. There are still few studies that use the new dietary reference intakes in dietary assessment. In Brazil, as in other developing countries, studies still give priority to nutritional deficiencies. Despite the growing number of Brazilian dietary studies in recent years, the existent researches are of limited level of comparability, being, therefore, crucial to invest in a structure (tables, software, indicator selection) that truly enables a more reliable and comparative nutritional diagnosis.
nutrition assessment; food consumption; feeding methods; child; preschool
