Abstract
ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) against a four-day precoded food diary (PFD) with regard to frequency of food intake among Norwegian 9- and 13-year-olds.Subjects and designA total of 733 9-year-olds and 904 13-year-olds completed first a short FFQ and one to two weeks later a four-day PFD. The short FFQ included questions about 23 food items, including different drinks, fruits, vegetables, bread, fish, pizza, sweets, chocolate and savoury snacks. The PFD covered the whole diet.ResultsWhen comparing mean intake from the PFD with comparable food items in the FFQ, all food items showed that increasing intake measured with the PFD corresponded with increasing intake with the short FFQ. However, participants reported a significantly higher frequency of intake for most foods with the short FFQ compared with PFD, except for soft drinks with sugar and sweets. The median Spearman correlation coefficient between the two methods was 0.36 among the 9-year-olds and 0.32 among the 13-year-olds. Often eaten foods such as fruits and vegetables had higher correlations than seldom eaten foods such as pizza and potato chips. The median correlation coefficients for drinks alone were higher (r=0.47) for both age groups.ConclusionsResults indicate that the short FFQ was able to identify high and low consumers of food intake and had a moderate capability to rank individuals according to food intake. Drinks, fruits and vegetables had better correlations with the PFD than infrequently eaten food items.
Highlights
The questions from the short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) about hamburger/hot dog/kebab and peanuts were not included in the analyses because these food items were not possible to match with categories from the precoded food diary (PFD), and only a few participants reported in the short FFQ that they ate peanuts more often than three times per month
The mean intake of food items from the PFD increased with increasing frequency categories from the short FFQ (Tables 2 and 3)
Spearman correlation coefficients between the frequency reported from the short FFQ and the amount from the PFD ranged from 0.11 for pizza to 0.67 for low-fat milk among the 9-year-olds, with a median correlation coefficient of 0.36 (Table 2)
Summary
Subjects A total of 1,018 9-year-olds (4th grade) and 1,181 13-yearolds (8th grade) were invited to take part in a nationally representative dietary survey, UNGKOST-2000. The questions from the short FFQ about hamburger/hot dog/kebab and peanuts were not included in the analyses because these food items were not possible to match with categories from the PFD, and only a few participants reported in the short FFQ that they ate peanuts more often than three times per month. The food items from the PFD were recoded into glasses per day and times per day to allow for a more direct comparison to the frequencies obtained from the short FFQ. The food intake reported with the PFD was calculated both in gram per day and frequencies (glasses per day or times per day), and Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between frequencies from the short FFQ and the PFD for both grams per day and frequencies. Sensitivity was calculated as the number of those having answered that they ate the food item, with both the short FFQ and the PFD as a percentage of those who had recorded the food item with the PFD
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
