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Validity of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire for Toddlers of NELA Birth Cohort Study
Sandra Gonzalez-Palacios1,2,3, Carolina Ojeda-Belokon1,2,3, Alejandro Oncina-Canovas1,2,3
1Unidad de Epidemiología de la Nutrición (EPINUT), Departamento de SaludPública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH), 03550 Alicante, Spain.
Insights
A short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) showed moderate reproducibility and validity for assessing nutrient intake in 18-month-old children. This tool offers an efficient method for evaluating toddler dietary habits, especially in Mediterranean regions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Dietary Assessment Methods
- Nutritional Epidemiology
Background:
- Assessing nutrient and food intake in toddlers is crucial for monitoring growth and development.
- Existing dietary assessment tools may have limitations in terms of efficiency and invasiveness for young children.
- The Nutrition in Early Life and Asthma (NELA) birth cohort provided a suitable population for this study.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the reproducibility and validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing nutrient and food intakes in 18-month-old children.
- To determine the FFQ's effectiveness in capturing usual dietary patterns in a pediatric population.
- To explore the FFQ's utility within the context of Mediterranean dietary patterns.
Main Methods:
- A 47-item FFQ was administered twice to 103 toddlers (aged 18 months) with a 3-month interval.
- Three non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls (24hDRs) were conducted during the interval.
- Oral mucosa samples were analyzed for fatty acid profiles to assess biochemical validity.
Main Results:
- The FFQ demonstrated moderate reproducibility for energy-adjusted nutrient intakes (mean r = 0.48) and food groups (mean r = 0.35).
- FFQ validity for nutrient intakes showed a mean correlation coefficient of r = 0.48.
- Biochemical validation indicated positive correlations between fish intake (FFQ) and omega-3 fatty acids in oral mucosa cells.
Conclusions:
- The short FFQ exhibits moderate reproducibility and validity for assessing dietary intake in 18-month-old children.
- This FFQ is an efficient and minimally invasive tool for evaluating toddler dietary intake.
- The findings are particularly relevant for dietary assessments in Mediterranean contexts.
Background/Objectives:
Our aim was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for the assessment of usual nutrient and food intakes in children of 18 months old.
Methods:
We included 103 toddlers aged 18 months from the Nutrition in Early Life and Asthma (NELA) birth cohort study. A 47-item FFQ was administered twice to parents with a 3-month interval. During that period, we also performed three non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls (24hDRs) and oral mucosa samples for determining the fatty acid profile (glycerophospholipids). We estimated correlation coefficients of reproducibility for nutrient and food group intakes by comparing both FFQs and validity coefficients by comparing nutrient intakes between the second FFQ and the average of the three 24hDRs. We also explored biochemical validity by comparing the intake of fish from the FFQ with the percentage of fatty acids in oral mucosa cells.
Results:
The average of correlation coefficients for FFQ reproducibility was r = 0.48 for energy-adjusted nutrient intakes (ranging from r = 0.28 for Na to r = 0.62 for Mg and Zn) and r = 0.35 for the intake of energy-adjusted food groups. The average correlation coefficient for FFQ validity on nutrient intakes was r = 0.48, ranging from r = 0.16 for α-carotene to r = 0.75 for vitamin E. We also found a positive correlation between total omega-3 fatty acids and docosahexaenoic acid percentages in oral mucosa cells and the intake of total and white fish, r = 0.31 and r = 0.34, respectively.
Conclusions:
This study shows that our short FFQ demonstrated moderate reproducibility (mean r = 0.48) and validity (mean r = 0.48) for dietary assessment of most nutrients and foods in 18-month-old children in Spain. This FFQ provides an efficient and minimally invasive method for evaluating toddler dietary intake, particularly in Mediterranean contexts.
