Larger body mass index values (BMI in kg/m2) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in adulthood and there are significant correlations between BMI values in childhood and in adulthood. The present study addresses the predictive value of childhood BMI for overweight at 35 +/- 5 y, defined as BMI > 28 for men and > 26 for women. Analyses of data for 555 white children indicated that overweight at 35 y can be predicted from BMI at younger ages. The prediction is excellent at age 18 y, good at 13 y, but only moderate at ages younger than 13 y. For 18-y-olds with a BMI value exceeding the 60th percentile, the odds of overweight at 35 y are 34% for men and 37% for women. A clinically applicable method is provided to assign an overweight child to a group with a known probability of high BMI values in adulthood.

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Recalled body weight and self-reported current weight were validated in a longitudinal study population by comparing recalls at 50 y to actual measures taken at ages 18, 30, 40, and 50 y. Recalled body weights were also compared with reported desired weights at these same ages. Self-reported weights at 50 y were equally accurate for both males and females; the mean reporting underestimate was -1.98 kg for males and -1.86 kg for females. Males' self reports at age 50 y were influenced by years of education (P less than 0.005) and current body size (P less than 0.0001) whereas females' were not. Correlations between recall of past weights and measured weights ranged from r = 0.87 at 18 y to 0.95 at 40 y. Recalls of past body weight were not significantly influenced by the passage of time, the number of years of education, or the accuracy of current weight reports. Current body size (wt/ht2) was significantly associated with life-time weight dissatisfaction in both sexes (P less than 0.0005).

The validity of long-term recall and current assessments of height, weight, and fatness relative to peers was investigated among 91 middle-aged participants in a longitudinal growth study. The recollections of 50-year-old participants concerning perceived body size in comparison to peers during childhood (aged 5-7 years), adolescence (aged 10-18 years), and at ages 30, and 40 years were compared with physical measurements taken at these times. Correlations between perceived and actual body size at all ages from childhood through middle-age were moderate but significant (P less than 0.005) and were influenced by gender and phases of physical growth (early and late adolescence). In general, accuracy of self-reports of current body size were not significantly better than recalls of body size up to 50 years earlier. Respondents' recall of various physiological events was also assessed. Females' actual and recalled year of menarche were correlated (r = 0.67; P less than 0.0001). Age at menarche was recalled within 1 year of the actual event by 84% of the females. Fifty percent of both sexes recalled their year of maximal growth in height within 1 year and recalled the timing of their maturation (early, average, or late) in relationship to their peers equally well (P less than 0.001).

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BackgroundFood frequency questionnaires (FFQs) have been validated in pregnant women, but few studies have focused specifically on low-income women and minorities. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the Harvard Service FFQ (HSFFQ) among low-income American Indian and Caucasian pregnant women.MethodsThe 100-item HSFFQ was administered three times to a sample of pregnant women, and two sets of 24-hour recalls (six total) were collected at approximately 12 and 28 weeks of gestation. The sample included a total of 283 pregnant women who completed Phase 1 of the study and 246 women who completed Phase 2 of the study. Deattenuated Pearson correlation coefficients were used to compare intakes of 24 nutrients estimated from the second and third FFQ to average intakes estimated from the week-12 and week-28 sets of diet recalls.ResultsDeattenuated correlations ranged from 0.09 (polyunsaturated fat) to 0.67 (calcium) for Phase 1 and from 0.27 (sucrose) to 0.63 (total fat) for Phase 2. Average deattenuated correlations for the two phases were 0.48 and 0.47, similar to those reported among other groups of pregnant women.ConclusionThe HSFFQ is a simple self-administered questionnaire that is useful in classifying low-income American Indian and Caucasian women according to relative dietary intake during pregnancy. Its use as a research tool in this population may provide important information about associations of nutrient intakes with pregnancy outcomes and may help to identify groups of women who would benefit most from nutritional interventions.

The HFFQ is a simple self-administered questionnaire completed by the child's parent or guardian and is useful in assessing the diets of Native American and Caucasian children. It may also provide important nutritional information about this age group for future program planning, research, education, and intervention purposes.

Long term recalls of dietary intake are frequently used in case-control studies, but their validity and reliability have not been established. In this study, 91 middle-aged adults (median age, 50 years) who were participants in the Longitudinal Study of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, starting in the early 1930s, were asked in 1984-1985 to report present food intake and to recall food intakes at ages 5-7 years. 18 years, and 30 years using food frequency questionnaires. Their recalled intakes were validated by comparison with historical records of intake collected during the earlier time periods. Recall of food intake in the distant past was a better predictor of historical intake than was current diet. However, correlations between recalled and historical consumption for individual foods and food groups were generally low, rarely exceeding 0.3. Current intakes exerted a powerful influence on accuracy of recall. The consideration of participant characteristics did not prove to be consistently useful in explaining variations in food item and food group-related recall. The authors conclude that recall of food intake in the distant past may be a sufficiently valid estimate of past intake to justify its collection.