Partitioning Macronutrient Intake Estimates From a Food Frequency Questionnaire

Abstract

In the 1984-1985 University of Michigan Food Frequency Study, 228 black and white men and women ages 24-51 years completed 16 days of food records over the course of a year and then completed a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The relative validity of macronutrient (fat, protein, and carbohydrate) estimates from the questionnaire was evaluated with the records used as a standard. The two methods differed both in estimated group mean intake and in the relative ranking of individuals. Partitioning of between-method disagreement showed that frequency differences were the main source of poor agreement in relative ranking; serving size differences contributed mainly to disagreement in group mean intake; and differences in nutrient composition had only minor effects. After adjusting for total calorie intake, agreement in group mean intake improved. Agreement in relative ranking and classification also improved, but substantial disagreement remained. The strategy of adjusting for total calorie intake depends on the assumption that macronutrients are reported in similar proportions on both instruments. This assumption did not appear to hold true. Respondents showed considerable variability in the proportionality of reporting, with 46% of respondents reporting fat intake disproportionately. A summary index of proportionality is described and the relation between disproportionate reporting and misclassification is discussed. Disproportionate reporting of macronutrients limits the ability of food frequency questionnaires to rank individuals similarly to a reference method even if estimates are adjusted for total calorie intake.

Comparison of Intakes of US Chinese Women Based on Food Frequency and 24-Hour Recall Data

“…The use of different nutrient databases is another limitation. Pre vious work, however, suggests that using different data base values has relatively little effect on ranking or agreement between FFQ and a referent (9)(10)(11).…”

Reprodutibilidade, validade relativa e calibração de um questionário de frequência alimentar para adultos da Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

“…Após a deatenuação e correção pela energia, os coeficientes de correlação aumentaram para a maioria dos nutrientes. A correção pela energia é feita baseada no pressuposto que cada entrevistado relata a ingestão de nutrientes de maneira similar nos dois métodos, o que aumentaria os coeficientes após o ajuste 24 . Entretanto, os coeficientes de alguns nutrientes diminuíram, achados estes consistentes com os de outros estudos 5,23,25,26 .…”

Usual energy and macronutrient intakes in 2–9-year-old European children

“…Both shortcomings introduce substantial error into usual energy and macronutrient intake estimates based on FFQ data. [8][9][10][11] In contrast, 24-HDRs and food records provide rich detail about the types and amounts of foods consumed and were shown to be less prone to systematic bias compared with FFQs. 10 However, due to the day-to-day variation in diet and additional sources of random errors, the within-person variation in short-term dietary data is large such that intakes measured on a single day may provide a poor estimate of long-term intake.…”