Comparative analysis between a brief nutrition screening survey and validated food frequency questionnaire among physically active college students

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the agreement between a 61-item Nutrition Screening Survey (NSS) and 127-item validated Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Participants Forty-seven college students (male, n = 29; female, n = 18), age 21.7 ± 0.4 years, BMI of 23.5 ± 0.4 kg/m2. Methods Participants completed the NSS, Block FFQ, and anthropometric measurements. Pearson’s correlation, paired sample t test, and Bland–Altman plot evaluated agreement between the assessments. Results Moderate to strong associations between assessments (0.61–0.89, p < 0.001) were identified for meals/day, snacks/day, calories, carbohydrate, fiber, grains, non-starchy vegetables, potatoes, legumes, fruit, yogurt, cheese, and eggs. Mean daily meals/day, calories, fat, fiber, grains, fruit, milk, and eggs did not significantly differ between surveys. The Bland–Altman plot analyses indicated no proportional bias for calories, fat, fiber, grains, fruit, milk, and eggs. Conclusions The NSS and Block FFQ display reasonable agreement, supporting use of the NSS for evaluating a range of dietary components among physically active college students.