Validity and Reproducibility of a Food Frequency Questionnaire as a Measure of Recent Dietary Intake in Young Adults

Abstract

This research assessed the relative validity and reproducibility of the Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies (DQESV2) over one month in young adults, given the lack of concise and convenient instruments for assessing recent dietary intake in this population. Participants were recruited from a large Australian university (N = 102; 35% male; age 18–34 years; body mass index 16–37 kg/m2). Five one-day weighed food records (WFR) were administered over one month followed by the DQESV2. Estimates for nutrients (energy, protein, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars, dietary fibre, and alcohol) and fruit and vegetable servings were compared between methods using correlation coefficients, 95% limits of agreement, and quintile classifications. One week later, a second DQESV2 was completed by n = 77 of the participants to assess reproducibility using intra-class correlations (ICC) and weighted kappa. Comparing methods, all nutrients and fruit and vegetable servings showed significant positive correlations (P<0.05) except protein intake in males; over 60% of participants were within one quintile classification except total fat and dietary fibre intakes in males (55% and 56%, respectively); and differences in nutrient and food intakes between methods were all within +/−20% of the mean WFR values except alcohol intake in females. Between first and second administrations of the DQESV2 all ICC coefficients were positive (P<0.01) and weighted kappa coefficients ranged from 0.54 for fruit servings (including fruit juice) in males to 0.91 for protein intake in females. Over a one month period, the DQESV2 demonstrated good reproducibility for the studied nutrients and for fruit and vegetable servings and provided a valid measure of the studied nutrients, except alcohol in females, and of fruit servings (including fruit juice) in both genders, at the group level in this young adult population.

Relative validation of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate food intake in an adult population

“…The FFQ overestimated as well as underestimated the absolute intake of various nutrients and foods, which was comparable to other validation studies [29,30]. We observed that in general, frequently consumed foods tended to be overestimated in the FFQ compared to the 4-d FR, in particular vegetables and fruit intake, as reported in other FFQ validation studies [13,31]. Food items consumed daily (e.g.…”

Dietary intake in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: validation of the Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies version 2 FFQ against a 3-d weighed food record and 24-h urinalysis

“…Hebden et al (4) looked at the agreement between the DQES v2 FFQ and a 5-d WFR for measuring servings of fruit and vegetables in young adults and found that vegetable intake was under-estimated by the FFQ (men: 1·6 servings; women: 2 servings) and fruit was over-estimated by the FFQ (men: 0·4 servings; women: 0·1 servings), which is comparable with that observed in the present study. We have previously shown that full-fat dairy intake measured using the DQES v2 FFQ was positively associated with serum lipid species known to be of ruminant origin (21) , suggesting that this FFQ can be used to estimate dairy intake.…”

“…At present, the DQES v2 FFQ has been validated in a cohort of Fe-deficient women (2) and two healthy populations (3,4) , and it is found to have relatively good agreement with a 3-d weighed food record (WFR). It classifies more than two-thirds of subjects within 1 quintile difference for all nutrients compared with a 3-d WFR (3) .…”

Design, Validation and Reproducibility of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Schoolchildren from Northwest Mexico

“…That is why in this FFQ some open questions have been added to know if schoolchildren have consumed a fruit or vegetable not listed on it. In general, the correlations observed in the literature ranged from 0.5 to 0.8; this studio has similar correlations except the one for consumption of only fruit [22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”