Developing a validated Alaska Native food frequency questionnaire for western Alaska, 2002-2006

Area of Science:

• Nutritional epidemiology
• Dietary assessment methods
• Indigenous health research

Background:

• Accurate dietary assessment is crucial for understanding health in Alaska Native communities.
• Existing methods may not fully capture the dietary patterns of this population.
• There is a need for culturally relevant and reliable dietary evaluation tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing 1-year dietary intake.
• To measure total dietary intake among Alaska Native people in two regions of Alaska.
• To provide a tool for evaluating the relationship between diet and health outcomes in this population.

Main Methods:

• Collected seasonal 24-hour (24-h) diet recalls from Alaska Native participants in 12 communities.
• Utilized regression techniques to develop the FFQ based on average food and nutrient consumption from recalls.
• Validated the FFQ by comparing its responses to 24-h recalls using Spearman Correlation Coefficient in 58 participants.

Main Results:

• The developed FFQ showed significant correlations for 15 out of 26 examined nutrients.
• Energy-adjusted correlations ranged from 0.15 for protein to 0.49 for monounsaturated fatty acids.
• Key correlated nutrients included total carbohydrates, total fat, various fatty acids (e.g., omega-3, EPA, DHA), folate, vitamins A, C, D, potassium, and selenium.

Conclusions:

• The validated FFQ is a suitable instrument for evaluating nutrient intakes in western Alaska Native populations.
• The FFQ can be used to assess dietary patterns relevant to health in this demographic.
• This tool supports further research into diet-related health issues among Alaska Natives.