Disagreement of energy and macronutrient intakes estimated from a food frequency questionnaire and 3-day diet record in girls 4 to 9 years of age

Abstract

Background: The Block98 food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has been validated for dietary assessment of usual intakes in adults, but not in children.

Objective: To assess the agreement of the Block98 FFQ and 3-day diet records for measuring dietary intakes in young girls.

Subjects/setting: Healthy 4- to 9-year-old girls (N=61; 6.5+/-1.6 years) were recruited from the Athens/Clarke county area in Georgia.

Design: Dietary intakes were measured using the Block98 FFQ and 3-day diet records, with nutrient analysis of the 3-day diet records conducted using the Food Processor computer program (ESHA; version 7.21, 1998, ESHA Research, Salem, OR). The Block98 FFQ was completed by a trained interviewer and parent, with input from the child, if able. Food models and portion size pictures were used to increase reporting accuracy.

Statistical analysis: Paired sample t tests and simple regression were conducted to determine whether the two diet instruments reported similar values for energy and macronutrients.

Results: Block98 FFQ overestimated intakes from 3-day diet records for energy (2,180+/-692 vs 1,749+/-328 kcal), protein (68.3+/-25.9 vs 57.9+/-14.8 g/day), carbohydrate (298.7+/-97.0 vs 244.7+/-46.1 g/day) and fat (83.6+/-30.5 vs 62.3+/-14.7 g/day) (P<.05). Furthermore, the nutrients assessed using the two different methods were only moderately correlated (range: r=0.40 to 0.55).

Applications/conclusions: The Block98 FFQ agreed weakly to moderately with the 3-day diet records, and resulted in consistently higher intakes of all nutrients. These findings suggest that additional work is needed to develop a FFQ that reflects young children's energy and macronutrient intakes.