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This study assesses the validity and reproducibility of a 145-item self- This change has seen a need for dietary assessment tools which are able to measure long-term habitual nutrient intake. The cost efficiency, together with ease of both implementation and of data analysis, has lead to the popularity of the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) as a tool for use in large epidemiological studies.2 Studies involving investigation of nutrients or foods and age-related disease associations rely on dietary information obtained from older subjects. The FFQ offers advantages for application to elderly populations as it does not rely on shortterm memory and involves a relatively low burden to respondent^.^ Despite the fact that the population of interest is often elderly, few studies have investigated the validity of self-administered food frequency questionnaires among older subject^.^-^^ Of these, only a handful have involved comparison with weighed food records and fewer have used self-administered FFQs.A valid and reliable dietary assessment instrument that can be self-administered by older lay persons and analysed using software that requires minimal coding input from dietitians or nutritionists, may enable largescale epidemiological studies involving food intake as an exposure variable without significant increase in study costs.This study aimed to assess both the concurrent validity for nutrient estimates of a self-administered 145-item semi-quantitative FFQ compared to three, four-day weighed food records (WFRs) spaced evenly over a year among respondents in a representative older Australian population. WFRs collected over a year are generally acknowledged as the best standard available, but measurement errors and changes to normal food consumption habits during recording periods are likely to be sufficiently great that the WFR cannot be regarded as a true gold standard. So, instead of assessing criterion validity, we can only really assess concurrent validity against a different type of dietary measure.A secondary aim was to assess the FFQ's short-term and longer-term repeatability. The questionnaire was used in the populationbased Blue Mountains Eye Study. Methods Study PopulationThe Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) is a population-based survey of vision and common eye diseases among older urban residents (aged 49 and older) in two post- 456

Longer duration of breastfeeding and later introduction of solid foods did not prevent the onset of asthma, eczema or atopy by age 5 years.

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