Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Apr 10:9:17.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-9-17.

Development of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate habitual dietary intake in Japanese children

Tomomi Kobayashi  1 , Sanae Tanaka, Chihiro Toji, Hideko Shinohara, Miharu Kamimura, Naoko Okamoto, Shino Imai, Mitsuru Fukui, Chigusa Date
Affiliations

Development of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate habitual dietary intake in Japanese children

Tomomi Kobayashi et al. Nutr J. .

Abstract

Background: Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) are used for epidemiological studies. Because of the wide variations in dietary habits within different populations, a FFQ must be developed to suit the specific group. To date, no FFQ has been developed for Japanese children. In this study, we developed a FFQ to assess the regular dietary intake of Japanese children. The FFQ included questions regarding both individual food items and mixed dishes.

Methods: Children (3-11 years of age, n = 621) were recruited as subjects. Their parents or guardians completed a weighed dietary record (WDR) for each subject in one day. We defined FOOD to be not only as a single food item but also as a mixed dish. The dieticians conceptually grouped similar FOODs as FOOD types. We used a contribution analysis and a multiple regression analysis to select FOOD types.

Results: We obtained a total of 586 children's dietary data (297 boys and 289 girls). In addition, we obtained 1,043 FOODs. Dieticians grouped into similar FOODs, yielding 275 FOOD types. A total of 115 FOOD types were chosen using a contribution analysis and a multiple regression analysis, then we excluded overlapping items. FOOD types that were eaten by fewer than 15 subjects were excluded; 74 FOOD types remained. We also added liver-based dishes that provided a high amount of retinol. A total of 75 FOOD types were finally determined for the FFQ. The frequency response formats were classified into four type categories: seven, eight, nine and eleven, according to the general intake frequency of each FOOD type. Information on portion size was obtained from the photographs of each listed FOOD type in real scale size, which was the average amount of the children's portion sizes.

Conclusions: Using both a contribution analysis and a multiple regression analysis, we developed a 75-food item questionnaire from the study involving 586 children. The next step will involve the verification of FFQ reproducibility and validity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Kotani K, Nishida M, Yamashita S, Funahashi T, Fujioka S, Tokunaga K, Ishikawa K, Tarui S, Matsuzawa Y. Two decades of annual medical examinations in Japanese obese children: do obese children grow into obese adults? Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1997;21:912–921. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0800492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kouda K, Nakamura H, Tokunaga R, Takeuchi H. Trends in levels of cholesterol in Japanese children from 1993 through 2001. J Epidemiol. 2004;14:78–82. doi: 10.2188/jea.14.78. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freedman DS, Khan LK, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS. The relation of childhood BMI to adult adiposity: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Pediatrics. 2005;115:22–27. - PubMed
    1. Guo SS, Huang C, Maynard LM, Demerath E, Towne B, Chumlea WC, Siervogel RM. Body mass index during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood in relation to adult overweight and adiposity: the Fels Longitudinal Study. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000;24:1628–1635. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801461. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Field AE, Cook NR, Gillman MW. Weight status in childhood as a predictor of becoming overweight or hypertensive in early adulthood. Obes Res. 2005;13:163–169. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.21. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources