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Relative validity of a dietary interview for assessing infant diet and compliance in a dietary intervention trial
Liisa Vähätalo1, Sonja Bärlund, Marja-Leena Hannila
1Nutrition Unit, Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Mannerhemintie 166, FI-00300 Helsinki, Finland.
Insights
This study validated a dietary interview method for infants, finding it useful for assessing diet and compliance in interventions. The method showed good agreement for breastmilk and formula, supporting its use in infant nutrition research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Dietary Assessment Methods
- Infant Health
Background:
- Accurate dietary assessment is crucial for infant nutrition research and interventions.
- Existing methods may have limitations in capturing infant dietary intake over specific periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the relative validity of a dietary interview, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), for assessing infant diets.
- To compare interview data with 48-hour dietary recalls in infants aged 3-6 months.
Main Methods:
- A dietary interview with structured questions and an FFQ was administered to 100 infants (50 at 3 months, 50 at 6 months).
- Data were compared against two 48-hour dietary recalls collected prior to the interview.
- Agreement was assessed using proportional classification and kappa analysis; correlations were calculated for formula intake.
Main Results:
- High agreement (kappa 0.82-0.95) was observed for breastmilk and study formula intake.
- Fair to very good agreement was found for other foods and vitamin D supplementation.
- Strong correlations existed for study formula amount per feeding, though the 1-month estimate was higher than the 48-hour recall average.
Conclusions:
- The dietary interview is a valuable tool for assessing infant diet and compliance in dietary intervention studies.
- The method demonstrates good relative validity, particularly for key intake items like breastmilk and formula.
- Findings support the use of this interview for monitoring infant nutrition in research settings.
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to assess the relative validity of a dietary interview method for use in an infant population. A dietary interview covering a 1-month period was completed during a study visit at 3 or 6 months of age. It included structured questions and a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The information was compared with data from two 48-h recall interviews conducted during the month previous to the study visit. The agreement between the FFQ and 48-h recalls was analysed as proportion of subjects classified into the same categories of consumption frequency and by the kappa analysis. A total of 100 subjects, at the age of 2-3 months (n = 50) and 5-6 months (n = 50), were included. The kappa values for breastmilk and study formula ranged from 0.82 to 0.95, indicating very good agreement. The agreement for other foods and vitamin D supplementation ranged from fair to very good. We also found a strong correlation for the reported amount of study formula consumed per feeding at 3 months (r(s) = 0.87, n = 24) and 6 months of age (r(s) = 0.73, n = 35) between the questionnaire and 48-h recall data. However, the average amount of study formula per feeding was significantly higher when estimated for a 1-month period, compared with a mean calculated from the two 48-h recalls. As a conclusion, the interview was found to be a useful tool for assessing diet and compliance in a dietary intervention for infants.