Two-year recall of maternal peanut consumption using a food-frequency questionnaire

Abstract

Objectives. To design a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to estimate peanut consumption during pregnancy, and to determine reproducibility when this consumption was recalled after a 2-year period.Methods. An FFQ that lists commonly consumed peanut-containing products was developed. This was completed by a group of pregnant women, relating to their current diet (initial recall). Two years later the same women were asked to complete the same FFQ with reference to the period of their pregnancy (follow-up recall).Results. A total of 30 women completed both the initial and follow-up questionnaires. Follow-up recall was found to be an unbiased estimate of initial recall, with a correlation coefficient of 0.95. Confidence intervals were defined to allow prediction of the initial recall value from the follow-up recall value.Conclusion. Using our FFQ, retrospective recall of peanut consumption during pregnancy correlated well with data collected at the time. This FFQ will, when validated, provide a useful tool for investigating the role of maternal peanut consumption in later development of peanut allergy in children.