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Published on: September 18, 2018
Validation of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire used among 12-month-old Norwegian infants
L F Andersen1, B Lande, G H Arsky
1Institute for Nutrition Research, University of Oslo, Norway. l.f.anderson@basalmed.uio.no
Insights
The semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) overestimated nutrient intake in 12-month-old infants but showed moderate accuracy in ranking nutrient and food item consumption.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Dietary Assessment Methods
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Accurate dietary assessment is crucial for monitoring infant nutrition and health.
- Semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaires (SFFQs) are commonly used in large-scale surveys.
- Validation of SFFQs in specific populations, like Norwegian infants, is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the validity of an SFFQ used in a nationwide dietary survey for 12-month-old Norwegian infants.
- To compare nutrient intake estimates from an SFFQ with weighed food records.
Main Methods:
- An SFFQ was administered to parents of 64 infants around their 12-month birthday.
- Infants' food intake was subsequently assessed using 7-day weighed food records.
- Data from both methods were compared for energy, nutrient, and food item intake.
Main Results:
- The SFFQ significantly overestimated energy and most nutrient intakes compared to food records, except for calcium.
- Differences in intake estimates diminished when comparing nutrient density.
- Spearman correlation coefficients for nutrient intake ranged from 0.18 (vitamin D) to 0.72 (polyunsaturated fatty acids), with a median of 0.50.
- Correlation for food items ranged from 0.28 (sweetened drinks) to 0.83 (commercial porridge), with a median of 0.62.
- 38% of infants were classified in the same quartile of intake by both methods.
Conclusions:
- The SFFQ overestimates absolute nutrient intakes in 12-month-old infants.
- The SFFQ provides more accurate estimates of nutrient density than absolute nutrient intake.
- The SFFQ demonstrates moderate capability in ranking infants by nutrient and food item intake, consistent with other SFFQ validation studies.
Objective:
To assess the validity of a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) used in a large nation-wide dietary survey among 12-month-old Norwegian infants.
Methods:
The SFFQ was administered to the parents about 1 week before the infants turned 12-month-old. The participants filled in the SFFQ and 1-2 weeks later they kept weighed food records for a total of 7 days. Both methods were completed for 64 infants.
Results:
The SFFQ overestimated energy intake with 25% and gave significantly higher estimates of all nutrients compared with the records, except for calcium. Much of the difference between the methods disappeared when nutrient density was compared. Spearman correlation coefficients between pairwise measurements of nutrient intakes from the food records and the SFFQ ranged from 0.18 for vitamin D to 0.72 for polyunsaturated fatty acid intake (median r=0.50). On average 38% of the infants were classified in the same quartile with the two methods, and 3% in the opposite quartile. The correlations for food items varied from 0.28 for sweetened drinks to 0.83 for commercial porridge (median r=0.62).
Conclusion:
This study indicated that the SFFQ overestimates average absolute nutrient intakes. However, the questionnaire gave better estimates for average nutrient densities than for absolute nutrient intakes. The capability of the questionnaire to rank infants according to intake of nutrients and food items was moderate, but at the same level as others have observed with food-frequency questionnaires.
