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. 2020 Jul 14;12(7):2081.
doi: 10.3390/nu12072081.

Reproducibility and Validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire for Dietary Assessment in Adolescents in a Self-Reported Way

Leyre Notario-Barandiaran  1 , Carmen Freire  2   3 , Manuela García-de-la-Hera  1   2 , Laura Mª Compañ-Gabucio  1 , Laura Torres-Collado  1 , Sandra González-Palacios  1 , Antonio Mundo  3 , Marina Molina  3 , Mariana F Fernández  2   3   4 , Jesús Vioque  1   2
Affiliations

Reproducibility and Validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire for Dietary Assessment in Adolescents in a Self-Reported Way

Leyre Notario-Barandiaran et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Tools to assess diet in a reliable and efficient way are needed, particularly in children and adolescents. In this study, we assess the reproducibility and validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) among adolescents in Spain. We analyzed data of 51 male adolescents aged 15-17 years from a prospective birth cohort study. Participants answered the FFQ twice in a self-administered way over a 12-month period. Reproducibility was assessed by comparing nutrient and food intakes from the FFQs, and validity by comparing nutrient intakes from the average of two FFQs and the average of two 24-Hour Dietary Recalls obtained in the period. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. The average of reproducibility correlation coefficients for food group intakes was 0.33, with the highest correlation for vegetable intake (r = 0.81); and the average for nutrient intake was 0.32, with the highest coefficients for α- and β-carotene (r = 0.65). Validity correlation coefficients ranged from 0.07 for carbohydrates to 0.53 for dietary fiber. The average of the validity correlation coefficients was r = 0.32. This study suggests that our FFQ may be a useful tool for assessing dietary intake of most nutrient and food groups among Spanish male adolescents in a self-administered way, despite reproducibility and, particularly validity, being low for some nutrients and food groups.

Keywords: Mediterranean country; adolescent; diet; dietary food record; food frequency questionnaire; nutrient intake; reproducibility; validity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest and the funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The design of the validation study among 51 adolescents aged 15–17 years of the INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) project in Granada. FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; 24hDR, 24 hours dietary recall.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bland-Altman plots showing the relationship between mean and differences in the daily intake of (a) energy; (b) total fat; (c) trans fatty acids, and (d) iodine estimated with the average of two FFQs and two 24hDRs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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