Abstract
BackgroundThe contribution of beverages to overall diet is of increasing interest to researchers and policymakers, particularly in terms of consumption of drinks high in added sugars; however, few tools to assess beverage intake have been developed and evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the relative validity of a new online Beverage Frequency Questionnaire (BFQ) among young adults in Canada.MethodsA cross-sectional relative validation study was conducted among young adults aged 16–30 years (n = 50). Participants completed a 17-item BFQ, a 7-day food record (7dFR), and a single-item measure of sugary drink intake. Pearson correlations and paired t-tests were used to evaluate correlation and agreement between the measures for 17 individual beverage categories, total drink consumption, total alcoholic beverage consumption, and two definitions of drinks with excess sugars. Cognitive interviews were conducted to examine participant interpretation and comprehensiveness of the BFQ.ResultsEstimates of beverage intake based on the BFQ and the 7dFR were highly correlated, specifically for the total number and volume of beverages consumed, total alcoholic beverage consumption, sugary drink intake, and each of the 17 beverage categories with 3 exceptions: coffee or tea with sugar or cream, specialty coffees, and hard alcohol with caloric mix. Paired t-tests between the BFQ and the 7dFR indicated that the average reported volume was significantly different only for sweetened fruit drinks. The single-item measure of sugary beverage intake was not significantly correlated with the 7dFR. Cognitive interviewing demonstrated high comprehension levels, and confirmed the appropriateness of the BFQ beverage categories and sizes.ConclusionsOverall, the results suggest that the BFQ performed well relative to a 7dFR and had high usability among this study population, indicating its promise for collecting population-level data on beverage intake, including sugar-sweetened beverages, which are known indicators of diet and health.
Highlights
The contribution of beverages to overall diet is of increasing interest to researchers and policymakers, in terms of consumption of drinks high in added sugars; few tools to assess beverage intake have been developed and evaluated
The objectives of the current study were to compare a newly developed Beverage Frequency Questionnaire (BFQ) to a 7-day dietary record, to examine the ability of the tool to capture the frequency of consumption of drinks with added and free sugar, and to examine whether the BFQ performed better than a single-item measure that has been used in population-level surveys to assess intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)
Beverage consumption The number of BFQ beverage categories reported by participants ranged from 0 to 7, out of a possible 17 categories, with an average of 3.16 categories (s.d. = 1.74)
Summary
The contribution of beverages to overall diet is of increasing interest to researchers and policymakers, in terms of consumption of drinks high in added sugars; few tools to assess beverage intake have been developed and evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the relative validity of a new online Beverage Frequency Questionnaire (BFQ) among young adults in Canada. Beverages, especially those high in free sugar, are of particular and growing interest among researchers and policymakers. Canadian youth (14 to 18 years) and young adults (19 to 30 years) were the largest consumers of sugary drinks, consuming an average of 643 mL and 500 mL per day, respectively. Between 2004 and 2015, sales of flavoured water, flavoured milk, drinkable yogurt, and energy drinks grew from negligible proportions to accounting for approximately 12% of all sugary drink sales volume in Canada [21]
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