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A comparative validation of a child food frequency questionnaire using red blood cell membrane fatty acids
T Burrows1, B Berthon, M L Garg
1School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Tracy.burrows@newcastle.edu.au
Insights
Parental reports using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) can estimate children's eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) intake. Further research is needed for other fatty acids and populations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Nutritional Biomarkers
- Dietary Assessment Methods
Background:
- Validated tools for assessing pediatric dietary intake are scarce.
- Accurate dietary assessment is crucial for child health and development.
- Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are commonly used but require validation in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing selected fatty acid intakes in children.
- To compare dietary fatty acid intake estimates from FFQ with erythrocyte membrane fatty acid concentrations.
- To assess the reliability of parent-reported dietary data in pediatric populations.
Main Methods:
- A comparative validation study involved 93 children aged 5-12 years (46 overweight, 47 healthy-weight).
- Dietary fatty acid intakes were assessed via parent-reported 135-item semi-quantitative FFQ.
- Erythrocyte membrane fatty acids were analyzed using gas chromatography; Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated.
Main Results:
- Significant correlation found between dietary and erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) concentration (r=0.24, P<0.05).
- A statistical trend was observed for total omega-3 fatty acids (∑n-3) (r=0.22, P=0.06) and linoleic acid (r=0.32, P=0.07) in healthy-weight children.
- Results indicate potential utility of FFQ for estimating specific fatty acid intakes.
Conclusions:
- Parental reporting of child fatty acid intake via FFQ can provide an estimate for EPA.
- Further validation is necessary to quantify the relationship for other fatty acids and diverse populations.
- This study contributes to the development of reliable dietary assessment tools for children.
Background/Objectives:
There are limited validated tools available for the assessment of dietary intake in pediatric populations. This report describes a comparative validation study of selected fatty acid intakes in children assessed by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), compared with erythrocyte membrane fatty acids.
Subjects/Methods:
Overall, 46 overweight and 47 healthy-weight children aged 5-12 years (mean±SD, 9.1±1.3years, body mass index 20.5±4.0) were recruited; dietary fatty acid intakes assessed by parent report using a 135-item semi-quantitative FFQ, were compared with selected child erythrocyte membrane fatty acids assessed from fasting samples using gas chromatography. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated between fatty acid intake estimates (% of energy) and erythrocyte membrane concentrations (%mol/mol).
Results:
Significant correlations were found between dietary and erythrocyte eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) concentration (r=0.24, P<0.05) with a statistical trend for total omega three (∑n-3) fatty acids (r=0.22, P=0.06) and linoleic acid (r=0.32, P=0.07) in the healthy-weight children only.
Conclusion:
Parental report of selected child fatty acid intakes using an FFQ can be used to provide an estimate of child intake of EPA, but further work is required to quantify this relationship for other fatty acids and in other populations.
