Parents’ Reports of Preschoolers’ Diets: Relative Validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire and Dietary Patterns

Abstract

The accurate assessment of food consumption is crucial in nutritional studies. Since modern nutrition science has become more interested in diet as a whole, studies validating food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and exploratory dietary patterns are needed. We aimed at examining the relative validity of a 47-item FFQ against three-day food records among three- to six-year-old Finnish children, as well as investigating the consistency of the dietary patterns derived using the principal component analysis (PCA), with food record and FFQ data as inputs. We conducted the PCA without forcing the food record data to match the FFQ items. Altogether, 75% or more of the participants were classified into the same or adjacent quarter of vegetables and fruits as well as sugary food consumption. Furthermore, the intake of folate and vitamin C increased linearly in the quarters of vegetable and fruit consumption, as did the intake of sucrose in quarters of sugary food consumption. Three fairly similar dietary patterns were identified from food records and FFQ data. Concerning the patterns, more than 70% of the participants were classified into the same or adjacent quarter. However, the Spearman correlation coefficients between the respective pattern scores were low (0.25–0.33). The FFQ showed acceptable validity when ranking food group consumption compared to food records. Additionally, the FFQ-derived dietary patterns were consistent with those derived using food record data.

Validity and reliability of a dish-based semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for assessment of energy and nutrient intake among Iranian adults

“…Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are widely used to assess dietary patterns in different societies. FFQs, especially food-based FFQs (FFFQs), are reliable tools which can be easily used in countries whose dietary patterns are based on single foods rather than mixed dishes [6][7][8]. Dish-based FFQs (DFFQ) may have several advantages over FFFQs in the societies whose dietary practices are different from western countries.…”

“…A number of questionnaires, mainly FFFQ, have been developed in both Western countries [6][7][8][10][11][12] and Asian countries [13][14][15][16], including Iran [4,[17][18][19]. However, Iranian dietary pattern is typically characterized by a plenty of mixed dishes.…”

Effects of the Preschool-Based Family-Involving DAGIS Intervention Program on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors and Self-Regulation Skills: A Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Furthermore, reliably measuring food consumption is challenging. However, reproducibility and validity of our parental FFQ have been tested [36,38]. Still, the FFQ reflects the foods eaten during the last week outside preschool time and does not allow for analysis of whether food consumption changed at preschool.…”

“…The study also included a combination of instruments such as the accelerometer for assessing PA, a validated screen time diary, and a validated FFQ for robust assessment [35,38].…”

“…The original 47-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was designed for the DAGIS survey to particularly measure the consumption frequencies of vegetables and fruits as well as sugary foods and beverages [38]. It has shown acceptable validity for ranking food group consumption compared with 3-day food records [38], and testing the reproducibility of the items has yielded acceptable results [35]. In the DAGIS intervention, the FFQ was expanded into a 51-item FFQ that included six food groups (vegetables, fruit, and berries; dairy products; fish meat and eggs; cereal products; beverages; and other foods such as sweets and snacks).…”