Italy
The Serbian National Food Consumption Survey on toddlers and children was conducted between 2017 and 2021 according to the EFSA EU Menu methodology. Valid data was collected from a total of 576 participants (overall response rate 74.4%) with 290 toddlers aged from one to below three years old (response rate 74.6% among female and 72.4% among male population), and 286 children aged from three to nine years old (response rate 76.4% among female and 73.5% among male population). The most complete population register in the Republic of Serbia was used as the sampling frame and three stratification layers were applied: age, gender and residential area. Recruitment was organised and conducted by the project team members at the household level, with not more than one child recruited per household. Data collection was conducted using project‐specific national Survey Pack that included: General questionnaire, age appropriate Food Propensity Questionnaire and 24h food diary. A food picture book, developed and validated for simple foods and dishes commonly consumed in the Balkan region, was used to assist the assessment of portion sizes. Data collection was conducted by trained interviewers with nutritional background within face‐to‐face interviews with parents/caretakers. Serbian national survey was extended to all regions of the country, covered four seasons and all days of the week, with 72% of diaries referring to working days and 28% to weekend days. Prior to the nationwide data collection, a pilot study was implemented to test the feasibility and acceptability of the methodology, pre‐defined study schedule, and survey instruments. Dietary pattern of the whole year was represented, including the periodically consumed foods and the festive calendar. Advanced nutritional platform Diet Assess and Plan (DAP) was applied for data storage, processing and creation of the final dataset for transfer to EFSA.
