The Kilkenny Health Project: food and nutrient intakes in randomly selected healthy adults.

1. Sixty healthy subjects aged 35-44 years (thirty men and thirty women) were randomly selected from electoral registers to participate in a dietary survey using the 7 d weighed-intake method during June-August 1985. 2. Energy intake (MJ/d) was 12.5 for men and 8.4 for women. Fat contributed 36.0 and 39.1% of the total energy intake of men and women respectively. When this was adjusted to exclude energy derived from alcoholic beverages, the corresponding values were 38.8 and 39.7% respectively. The major sources of dietary fat (%) were spreadable fats (28), meat (23), milk (12) and biscuits and cakes (11). 3. The subjects were divided into low- and high-fat groups both on the relative intake of fat (less than 35% or greater than 40% dietary energy from fat) and on the absolute intake of fat (greater than or less than 120 g fat/d). By either criterion, high-fat consumers had lower than average intakes of low-fat, high-carbohydrate foods such as potatoes, bread, fruit and table sugar, and higher intakes of milk, butter and confectionery products. Meat intake was higher among high-fat eaters only when a high-fat diet was defined as a percentage of energy.