The Evaluation and Use of a Food Frequency Questionnaire Among the Population in Trivandrum, South Kerala, India

Abstract

Dietary record tools such as food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and food diaries (FD) are the most commonly used choices for assessing dietary intakes in most large-scale epidemiological studies. The authors developed a self-administered 360-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess dietary intakes amongst a population-based cohort in South Kerala. In the validation study (n = 460), the data were collected using FFQs that were administered on three different occasions which were then compared to 7-day food records. The intake of foods and nutrients was higher as determined by the FFQ than that assessed using food records. Spearman correlations for macro-nutrients ranged from 0.72 for protein to 0.61 for carbohydrates and for micronutrients, from 0.71 for vitamin B6 to 0.34 for magnesium. The correlation was improved with energy-adjusted nutrient intakes. On average, the exact agreement for the macronutrients ranged from 48.2% to 57.1%, and that for micronutrients ranged from 66.7% to 41.9%, with the median percentage of 49.58%. The authors conclude that the FFQ has an acceptable reproducibility, however, there was a systematic trend towards higher estimates with the FFQ for most nutrients compared to the FD records.

Development and Validation of a Mobile Phone Application Developed for Measuring Dietary Fiber Intake

“…Another explanation is that the participants lacked knowledge of what food items they should register when they were eating prepared dishes. Our estimated correlation coefficient of rho = 0.65 was in agreement with estimates from other studies validating fiber intakes by using other types of dietary assessment methods against dietary records; correlation coefficients ranging from 0.43 to 0.72 have been identified [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In some studies, the correlation coefficients increased when adjusting for energy intakes [ 18 , 24 , 26 , 27 ].…”

“…Our estimated correlation coefficient of rho = 0.65 was in agreement with estimates from other studies validating fiber intakes by using other types of dietary assessment methods against dietary records; correlation coefficients ranging from 0.43 to 0.72 have been identified [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In some studies, the correlation coefficients increased when adjusting for energy intakes [ 18 , 24 , 26 , 27 ]. Energy adjustment was not possible in our study since the application did not target the totality of the diet and thereby lacks the necessary information.…”

Development of Food Group Tree-Based Analysis and Its Association with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Co-Morbidities in a South Indian Population: A Large Case-Control Study

“…Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) is the southern-most district in the state of Kerala, located on the south-west coast of India. At the time of the Indian census in 2011, it had a population of 3.3 million divided into urban and rural domiciles (urban 54%, rural 46%) [ 25 ]. The Trivandrum NAFLD cohort was originally designed and set up in 2013 to examine the interaction between genetics and lifestyles factors that result in increased risk of NAFLD within this population.…”

“…Dietary data for this study were collected by trained nutritionists using the Population Health and Research Institute (PHRI) food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), which were validated against three-day food records, and self-reported 24-h recalls [ 25 ]. The PHRI-FFQ consists of 361 recipes and 28 single food items (Indian foods) in 13 sections and is designed to classify participants according to the average daily intake level of energy, nutrients, and food items/recipes during the past one year.…”

Assessing the Association between Important Dietary Habits and Osteoporosis: A Genetic Correlation and Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

“…FFQs offer useful information about the dietary intake and the relationship between it and the health and disease outcomes [11]. Due to their ease of administration, low burden on participants and staff, and lower cost compared to other assessment techniques, FFQs have been widely used in large population-based studies [12]. In total, 814 LD-independent loci (defined as >500 kb apart) were identified that surpassed genome-wide significance (p < 5.0 × 10 −8 ).…”