The Evaluation and Use of a Food Frequency Questionnaire Among the Population in Trivandrum, South Kerala, India

Dietary record tools such as food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and food diaries (FD) are the most commonly used choices for assessing dietary intakes in most large-scale epidemiological studies. The authors developed a self-administered 360-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess dietary intakes amongst a population-based cohort in South Kerala. In the validation study (n = 460), the data were collected using FFQs that were administered on three different occasions which were then compared to 7-day food records. The intake of foods and nutrients was higher as determined by the FFQ than that assessed using food records. Spearman correlations for macro-nutrients ranged from 0.72 for protein to 0.61 for carbohydrates and for micronutrients, from 0.71 for vitamin B6 to 0.34 for magnesium. The correlation was improved with energy-adjusted nutrient intakes. On average, the exact agreement for the macronutrients ranged from 48.2% to 57.1%, and that for micronutrients ranged from 66.7% to 41.9%, with the median percentage of 49.58%. The authors conclude that the FFQ has an acceptable reproducibility, however, there was a systematic trend towards higher estimates with the FFQ for most nutrients compared to the FD records.

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Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire for use in pregnancy

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1079/phn2005876 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 515-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Theodora Mouratidou ◽

Fiona Ford ◽

Robert B Fraser

Keyword(s):

Pregnant Women ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Large Scale ◽

Economic Status ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Added Sugar ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Royal Hallamshire Hospital ◽

24 Hour Recall

AbstractObjectivesAs a part of an ongoing project to develop a nutritional screening tool, we evaluated the performance of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in terms of validity in a Sheffield Caucasian pregnant population using two different statistical approaches – the correlation coefficient and the limits of agreement (LOA). The FFQ was designed specifically for pregnant women and previously used in a large-scale study.DesignA validation study.SettingA community-based field study of a general population of pregnant women booked for their first antenatal appointment at the Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.SubjectsOne hundred and twenty-three women of different socio-economic status, aged between 17 and 43 years, provided complete dietary data.ResultsThe validity of the FFQ was tested against a series of two 24-hour recalls. As expected, the intakes of all examined nutrients, except for iodine, carotene, vitamin E, biotin, vitamin C and alcohol, were higher when determined by the FFQ than when determined by 24-hour recall. Pearson's correlation coefficient between the two methods ranged from 0.19 (added sugar, zinc) to 0.47 (Englyst fibre). The LOA were broader for some of the nutrients, e.g. protein, Southgate fibre and alcohol, and an increasing lack of agreement between the two methods was identified with higher dietary intakes.ConclusionsThe FFQ gave useful estimates of the nutrient intakes of Caucasian pregnant women and appears to be a valid tool for categorising pregnant women according to dietary intake. The FFQ performed well for most nutrients and had acceptable agreement with the 24-hour recall.

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Validation of Vitamin D-Specific Food Frequency Questionnaire against Food Records for Qatari Women

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods9020195 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 195 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vijay Ganji ◽

Reem Abu-Dbaa ◽

Haneen Othman ◽

Menatallah Zewein ◽

Tamara Al-Abdi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vitamin D ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Cost Effective ◽

The United States ◽

United States Department ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Food Records ◽

Food Composition Tables

The measurement of vitamin D nutritional status through dietary assessment is cost effective. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is usually validated against food records (FR). There is no vitamin D-specific FFQ for Qatar population. The objective of this study was to develop a vitamin D-centric FFQ and validate FFQ against three-day FR for Qatar population. A quantitative FFQ based on vitamin D containing foods consumed in Qatar was developed. Vitamin D contents of foods were gathered from food labels and food composition tables from the United States Department of Agriculture. A vitamin D content database was developed for this study purpose. Dietary intakes while using FFQ and three-day FR were collected from 62 women. Vitamin D intakes from FFQ and three-day FR were validated with quartile comparison and Bland-Altman (BA) tests. BA plot showed an agreement between FFQ and three-day FR vitamin D intakes. The BA index was 3.23%, which is <5%, a commonly used standard for validation. Quartile correlation showed that ≈73% of subjects were within the same or adjacent quartile. In conclusion, an agreement was found between vitamin D intakes from FFQ and three-day FR in Qatari women. More studies are needed to validate the vitamin D-specific FFQ in Qatari population at large.

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960Dietary intakes of patients with first Acute Coronary Syndrome: the MENZACS study

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/dyab168.094 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Kathryn Bradbury ◽

Yeunhyang Choi ◽

Christie Fyfe ◽

Katrina Poppe ◽

Anna Rolleston ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Coronary Syndrome ◽

Energy Intake ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Saturated Fat ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Median Percentage ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Coronary Syndrome ◽

Future Work ◽

First Time

Abstract Background In New Zealand (NZ) approximately 10,000 people experience an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) annually. Little is known about the diets of people who present with first ACS. Methods The Multi-Ethnic NZ study of Acute Coronary Syndromes (MENZACS) is a multi-centre, longitudinal cohort study of patients with first-time ACS. At baseline, patients complete a validated short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) asking about dietary intakes in the 12 months preceding their event. Participants are followed up for rehospitalisation and mortality. Results Here we present the dietary intakes of the 2,015 participants enrolled into MENZACS. We excluded 90 participants who did not start the FFQ and 42 participants who had extreme energy intakes. For men (n = 1489), the median energy intake was 8637 kJ, and the median percentage of energy from carbohydrate, protein, fat, and saturated fat were 40.3%, 17.9%, 34.7% and 17.8%, respectively. For women (n = 394), the median energy intake was 7499 kJ, and the median percentage of energy from carbohydrate, protein, fat and saturated fat were 40.3%, 18.4%, 35.6%, and 18.0%, respectively. Conclusions Both men and women reported high saturated fat intakes in the year preceding their first ACS. Future work will examine dietary predictors of rehospitalisation and mortality, as well as analyse baseline blood samples for Lipoprotein(a) and lipidomics. Key messages Patients in hospital with first time ACS are able to complete a short food frequency questionnaire, with little missing data.

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Validation of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Food Frequency Questionnaire for use among Adults in Lebanon

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980021002123 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-27

Author(s):

Karim Khaled ◽

Vanora Hundley ◽

Maya Bassil ◽

Mira Bazzi ◽

Fotini Tsofliou

Keyword(s):

Vitamin A ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Kappa Statistics ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Dietary Recall ◽

Acceptable Agreement ◽

Good Agreement

Abstract Objective: To validate the EPIC food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in Lebanon. Design: Validation of the EPIC FFQ was done against three 24-hour recalls. Unadjusted and energy adjusted correlations, Bland Altman plots, and weighed kappa statistics were used to assess the agreement between the two methods. Setting: Lebanon. Participants: 119 adults (staff and students) at a Lebanese University. Results: Good unadjusted and energy-adjusted correlation coefficients were found between data from the two methods which ranged from −0.002 (vitamin A) to 0.337 (carbohydrates) and were all statistically significant except for vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin A, selenium, and niacin. Slight/fair agreement was reported through weighed kappa estimates for unadjusted data ranging from −0.05 (vitamin C) to 0.248 (magnesium) and for energy-adjusted data ranging from −0.034 (vitamin A) to 0.203 (phosphorus). Individuals were categorised into exact and adjacent quartiles with an average of 78% for unadjusted data and 70% for energy-adjusted data, indicating a very good agreement between the EPIC FFQ and the average of the 24-HRs data. The visual inspection of the Bland-Altman plots revealed an over-estimation of energy, carbohydrates, protein, and fat intakes by the FFQ method. Conclusion: Overall, when all tests were taken into consideration, this study demonstrated an acceptable agreement of the EPIC FFQ with the 24-hour dietary recall method and significantly good correlations between dietary intakes. Therefore, the EPIC FFQ can be considered a valid tool for assessing diet in epidemiological studies among Lebanese adults.

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Development and Relative Validity of a Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Estimate Dietary Intake among a Multi-Ethnic Population in the Malaysian Cohort Project

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13041163 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1163

Author(s):

Suzana Shahar ◽

Mohd Razif Shahril ◽

Noraidatulakma Abdullah ◽

Boekhtiar Borhanuddin ◽

Mohd Arman Kamaruddin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vitamin C ◽

Correlation Coefficient ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Weighted Kappa ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Relative Validity ◽

Spearman’S Correlation

Measuring dietary intakes in a multi-ethnic and multicultural setting, such as Malaysia, remains a challenge due to its diversity. This study aims to develop and evaluate the relative validity of an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in assessing the habitual dietary exposure of The Malaysian Cohort (TMC) participants. We developed a nutrient database (with 203 items) based on various food consumption tables, and 803 participants were involved in this study. The output of the FFQ was then validated against three-day 24-h dietary recalls (n = 64). We assessed the relative validity and its agreement using various methods, such as Spearman’s correlation, weighed Kappa, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland–Altman analysis. Spearman’s correlation coefficient ranged from 0.24 (vitamin C) to 0.46 (carbohydrate), and almost all nutrients had correlation coefficients above 0.3, except for vitamin C and sodium. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from −0.01 (calcium) to 0.59 (carbohydrates), and weighted Kappa exceeded 0.4 for 50% of nutrients. In short, TMC’s FFQ appears to have good relative validity for the assessment of nutrient intake among its participants, as compared to the three-day 24-h dietary recalls. However, estimates for iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C should be interpreted with caution.

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Validity of a food frequency questionnaire for the estimation of total polyphenol intake estimates and its major food sources in the Japanese population: the JPHC FFQ Validation Study

Journal of Nutritional Science ◽

10.1017/jns.2021.25 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Nagisa Mori ◽

Norie Sawada ◽

Junko Ishihara ◽

Ayaka Kotemori ◽

Ribeka Takachi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Validation Study ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Japanese Population ◽

Alcoholic Beverages ◽

Food Sources ◽

Total Polyphenol ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Dietary Polyphenols ◽

Dietary Record ◽

Polyphenol Intake

Abstract We examine the validity and reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in a subsample of participants in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Cohort Study using a database of polyphenol-containing foods commonly consumed in the Japanese population. Participants of the validation study were recruited from two different cohorts. In Cohort I, 215 participants completed a 28-d dietary record (DR) and the FFQ, and in Cohort II, 350 participants completed DRs and the FFQ. The total polyphenol intake estimated from the 28-d DR and FFQ were log-transformed and adjusted for energy intake by the residual method. Spearman correlation coefficients (CCs) between estimates from the FFQ and 28-d DR as well as two FFQs administered at a 1-year interval were computed. Median intakes of dietary polyphenols calculated from the DRs were 1172 mg/d for men and 1024 mg/d for women in Cohort I, and 1061 mg/d for men and 942 mg/d for women in Cohort II. The de-attenuated CCs for polyphenol intake between the DR and FFQ were 0⋅47 for men and 0⋅37 for women in Cohort I and 0⋅44 for men and 0⋅50 for women in Cohort II. Non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributor to total polyphenol intake in both men and women, accounting for 50 % of total polyphenol intake regardless of cohort and gender, followed by alcoholic beverages and seasoning and spices in men, and seasoning and spices, fruits and other vegetables in women. The present study showed that this FFQ had moderate validity and reproducibility and is suitable for use in future epidemiological studies.

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Reproducibility and relative validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for the Chinese lactating mothers

Nutrition Journal ◽

10.1186/s12937-021-00678-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ye Ding ◽

Fang Li ◽

Ping Hu ◽

Mei Ye ◽

Fangping Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Dietary Assessment ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Relative Validity ◽

Lactating Mothers ◽

Dietary Record ◽

Spearman’S Correlation

Abstract Background The dietary nutritional status of the lactating mothers is related to maternal health and has a significant impact on the growth and development of infants through the secretion of breast milk. The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is the most cost-effective dietary assessment method that can help obtain information on the usual dietary pattern of participants. Until now, the FFQs have been used for different populations in China, but there are few FFQs available for the lactating mothers. We aimed to develop a semi-quantitative, 156-item FFQ for the Chinese lactating mothers, and evaluate its reproducibility and relative validity. Methods A total of 112 lactating mothers completed two FFQs and one 3-d dietary record (3DR). The first FFQ (FFQ1) was conducted during postpartum at 60–65 days and the second FFQ (FFQ2) during subsequent follow-up at 5 weeks. The 3DR was completed with portion sizes assessed using photographs taken by the respondent before and after eating (instant photography) 1 week after FFQ1. Results For reproducibility, the Spearman’s correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.34 to 0.68, and for nutrients from 0.25 to 0.61. Meanwhile, the intra-class correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.48 to 0.87, and for nutrients from 0.27 to 0.70. For relative validity, the Spearman’s correlation coefficients for food ranged from 0.32 to 0.56, and for nutrients from 0.23 to 0.72. The energy-adjusted coefficients for food ranged from 0.26 to 0.55, and for nutrients from 0.22 to 0.47. Moreover, the de-attenuation coefficients for food ranged from 0.34 to 0.67, and for nutrients from 0.28 to 0.77. The Bland-Altman plots also showed reasonably acceptable agreement between the two methods. Conclusions This FFQ is a reasonably reproducible and a relative valid tool for assessing dietary intake of the Chinese lactating mothers.

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A Data-Based Approach for Designing a Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire for a Population-based Prospective Study in Japan

Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.2188/jea.6.45 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 45-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

Yoshitaka Tsubono ◽

Satoko Takamori ◽

Minatsu Kobayashi ◽

Tosei Takahashi ◽

Yasuhiko Iwase ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prospective Study ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Population Based ◽

Food Frequency

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Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-Porto Alegre) for adolescent, adult and elderly populations from Southern Brazil

Cadernos de Saúde Pública ◽

10.1590/s0102-311x2010001100008 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (11) ◽

pp. 2068-2079 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Ruth Liane Henn ◽

Sandra Costa Fuchs ◽

Leila Beltrami Moreira ◽

Flavio Danni Fuchs

Keyword(s):

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

The Elderly ◽

Population Based ◽

Porto Alegre ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Dietary Recall ◽

Epidemiological Surveys ◽

Adolescents And Adults

This study assessed the validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-Porto Alegre), covering 135 food items, in comparison with the average of two consecutive 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires for adolescents, adults, and elderly who were randomly selected from a population-based survey. The Pearson correlation coefficients and cross-classification by quartiles of intake were used. The nutrients were log transformed and energy adjusted. The mean of adjusted de-attenuated correlation coefficient for adolescents was 0.44 and ranged from 0.18 (zinc) to 0.69 (folate) and for adult and elderly participants they were, respectively, 0.42, ranging from 0.16 (iron) to 0.73 (energy) and 0.52, ranging from 0.25 (vitamin E) to 0.84 (energy). The average classification percentage into the same or adjacent quartile for the two methods was 74.6% for adolescents, 74.9% for adults, and 81.2% for the elderly population. The FFQ showed fair relative validity for adolescents and adults, and may be used to study the dietary determinants of obesity and non-transmissible diseases in epidemiological surveys.

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