Development of a Simple Food Frequency Questionnaire to Estimate Intakes of Calcium and Other Nutrients for the Prevention and Management of Osteoporosis

Abstract

Summary There have been no simple methods to estimate dietary nutrient intakes for the prevention and management of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a new, simple food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for dietary intake of calcium and other nutrients relevant to the bone health of adult Japanese women. We developed a 28-item FFQ. To validate this, 208 and 72 adult women aged between 18 and 69 y were recruited for testing reliability and reproducibility, respectively. In the 208 women, moderate-to-high Spearman's correlation coefficients between our FFQ and the conventional diet record method were found in intakes of calcium ( r ϭ 0.668), sodium chloride (NaCl) ( r ϭ 0.475), vitamin A ( r ϭ 0.501), vitamin D ( r ϭ 0.413), vitamin K ( r ϭ 0.649), and energy ( r ϭ 0.471). In the 72 women, coefficients of variance of the four repeated measurements of intakes throughout a year were 14.1% for calcium, 7.3% for NaCl, 21.2% for vitamin A, 13.6% for vitamin D, 36.8% for vitamin K, and 9.6% for energy. In conclusion, the FFQ we developed is a useful tool to evaluate the intake of dietary calcium of adult Japanese women. Although it can also measure intakes of dietary vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K, NaCl, and energy, further improvement is needed to measure intakes of these nutrients and energy.

Calcium intake and osteoporosis: the influence of calcium intake from dairy products on hip bone mineral density and fracture incidence – a population-based study in women over 55 years of age

“…The FFQ results were analysed using the Dietetyk 2 software package (the Polish dietetic software) and the Polish database of nutritional values of food products (19) . The use of an FFQ to assess Ca intake is a commonly accepted and widely applied method, taking into account specified sources of Ca in the diet, mainly dairy products (13,(20)(21)(22)(23) . The standard error of the Ca estimate for the FFQ administered (calculated on the basis of two measurements for fifty participants with repetition during the period of 6 weeks) was 180 mg, while the median difference for the two estimations of daily Ca intake was 12 %.…”

Association between lifestyle habits and bone mineral density in Japanese juveniles

“…To investigate the relationship between secondary sexual characteristics and BMD, participants were divided into two groups, as follows: boys were divided into ''before'' or ''after'' groups based on change in voice; girls were divided into ''before'' or ''after'' groups based on menarche. We used data from boys aged 12-14 years and girls aged [11][12][13] years to analyze the correlation between secondary sexual characteristics and BMD. The participants were divided into four groups according to their grade of school, i.e., lower elementary, higher elementary, junior high, and senior high student, to analyze milk consumption and total calorie and nutrient intake.…”

“…Furthermore, the examination methods used to assess the relationship between daily diet and BMD have been simple. In most of the previous studies conducted in Japanese populations, a 3-day dietary record or simple questionnaire has been used for dietary assessment, and it was difficult to examine the correlation between BMD and detailed nutrient factors [12,13]. Therefore, in this study, we used the brief self-administered diet history questionnaire for 10-year olds (BDHQ10y), a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire that asked the dietary habits of the previous month [14,15].…”

A Randomized Intervention Trial of 24-wk Dairy Consumption on Waist Circumference, Blood Pressure, and Fasting Blood Sugar and Lipids in Japanese Men with Metabolic Syndrome

“…Dietary and lifestyle assessments as well as clinical and laboratory tests were performed at baseline, 12 wk, and 24 wk. Dietary intake was assessed or calculated using a semiquantitative questionnaire, the Food Frequency Questionnaire for the Prevention and Management of Osteoporosis, a 28-item questionnaire that measures nutritional intake relevant to bone health in adult Japanese women (16), with coefficients determined by the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (17). Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire, nearly identical to that used and validated in the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study (18).…”