The purpose of the study was to develop a dietary fiber composition table (DFCT) and to assess dietary fiber intakes in Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).

The DFCT was developed by compiling the food composition tables published by the agencies of Korea, United States, or Japan. When there was no available data from the same species or status (dried, boiled, etc.) of food, the values were imputed by estimating from the same species with different status or substituting familiar species in biosystematic grouping. Using KNHANES VI-2 (2014) microdata and DFCT, intake of dietary fiber of Koreans was estimated.

Among the 5,126 food items of DFCT, the proportion of items of which dietary fiber contents were taken from the analytical values of the same foods was 40.9%. The data from the domestic food composition tables was 37.5%, and the data from the foreign tables was 49.6%. The rest was assumed as zero, or estimated with recipe database and nutrition labeling. Mean daily intake of dietary fiber was 23.2 g, and mean intake per 1,000 kcal was 10.7 g in men and 12.6 g in women. The mean percentage of dietary fiber intake compared to adequate intake was higher than 100%. The major food groups contributing to dietary fiber intakes were vegetables and cereals, and the percent contribution were 32.9% and 23.0% of total dietary fiber intakes, respectively.

This DFCT could serve as a useful database for assessing dietary fiber intakes and for investigating the association between dietary fiber intakes and non-communicable diseases.