Relative Validity and Reproducibility of a Short FoodFrequency Questionnaire to Assess Nutrient Intakesof New Zealand Adults.

Cecilia Ho Yan Sam,Sherly Parackal,Clare Wall,Paula Skidmore,Kathryn E Bradbury,Sheila Skeaff

doi:10.3390/nu12030619

Cecilia Ho Yan Sam, Sherly Parackal + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12030619

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Feb 27, 2020
Citations: 22	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Otago, University of Auckland

Abstract

There is no recent validated short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for use in New Zealand (NZ) adults. This study aimed to evaluate the relative validity and reproducibility of a short FFQ in free-living NZ adults aged 30–59 years. A 57-item, semi-quantitative FFQ was developed and pre-tested. During a 12-month study period the FFQ was administrated twice with a 9-month interval between administrations. Four two-day diet records were collected at months 0, 3, 6, and 9 and a blood sample was taken at month 9. Spearman correlations were used to evaluate the validity of the FFQ with the eight-day diet records and selected biomarkers. Cross-classification analysis and the Bland–Altman method were used to assess the agreement between the FFQ and the diet record. Reproducibility over nine months was assessed using intra-class correlations. A total of 132 males and females completed both FFQs, the eight-day diet record, and provided a blood sample. The highest energy-adjusted correlation coefficients were observed for alcohol (0.81), cholesterol (0.61), and carbohydrate (0.61), with the lowest for sodium (0.29), thiamin (0.33), and niacin equivalents (0.34). More than three quarters of the participants were correctly classified into the same or adjacent quartile for most nutrients, with a low proportion of participants being grossly misclassified (<10%). For most nutrients, the limits of agreement from the Bland–Altman analyses were between 50% and 250%. A positive correlation was observed between dietary intakes and plasma biomarkers for all selected nutrients. The FFQ showed moderate to good reproducibility, with almost all reliability coefficients ranging from 0.60 to 0.80. This short FFQ was shown to validly and reliably rank individuals by their habitual intake of most major nutrients, indicating that the FFQ will offer a time-efficient way to assess the nutrient intake of NZ adults in future research.

Highlights

Sub-optimal diets contribute significantly to the global burden of disease [1]
The aim of the current study was to develop a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), with fewer than 100 items, for use in New Zealand (NZ) free-living adults, and to assess its validity and reproducibility for ranking individuals according to their usual intake of multiple nutrients
The mean energy intake from the 8-day weighted diet record (8dWDR) was 9.2MJ/day, which was similar to 9.0 MJ/day reported by 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey participants of a similar age using an interview-administered 24 hour recall

Summary

Introduction

In New Zealand, diet-related risk factors such as low consumption of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains and omega-3. Nutrients 2020, 12, 619 fatty acids, and high consumption of sodium and trans fat, are estimated to be the leading cause of health loss [2]. This is primarily due to their relationships with cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and type 2 diabetes and its renal complications [2]. Food frequency questionnaires for use in a new population can be adapted from existing FFQs; the performance of each food frequency questionnaire should be evaluated in the intended target population, given inevitable differences in culture, food availability, and food intake between populations [3]

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Conclusion