Rapid assessment tools for ranking pregnant minority women into multi-nutrient exposure groups

Abstract

Objective: To develop a targeted FFQ (TFFQ) and evaluate its effectiveness for ranking minority women by their intake of multiple nutrients important to a healthy pregnancy. Design: In Stage 1, food groups derived from 24 h recall dietary data were entered into a stepwise multiple regression model to identify 'discriminating' foods for the TFFQ; in Stage 2, the TFFQ and a 24 h recall were administered to pregnant women. The TFFQ data were used to create a Habitual Multi-Nutrient Intake Scale (H-MNIS) for ranking the women. The effectiveness of the ranking was tested against women's reported nutrient intakes on the 24 h recall. Setting: Southern Israel. Subjects: In Stage 1, 519 Bedouin Arab adults; in Stage 2, 404 pregnant Bedouin women. Results: Of the ninety-three food groups included in the regression analysis, twenty-eight explained .80 % of the between-person variability in the intake of the target nutrients. Whole-wheat bread was a main discriminator for protein, Fe, Zn, Ca and folate. Fish, poultry and canned tuna explained $88 % of the betweenperson variation in DHA and EPA intakes. The mean daily intakes of pregnant Bedouin women from the 24 h recall data differed significantly across H-MNIS quartiles (P , 0?01) for all but three target nutrients (folate, EPA, DHA); and the P for trend was significant (P , 0?02) for all but EPA. Conclusions: The TFFQ and H-MNIS represent rapid assessment tools for studying maternal nutrition on a multi-nutrient basis, and effectively ranked pregnant Bedouin women into exposure groups by their intake of the target nutrients.

Assessment of diet and physical activity: new tools; old challenges

“…Abu Saad et al . ( 11 ) show how food frequency data can be used to develop rapid assessment tools and Ward et al . ( 12 ) describe the impact of open v .…”

“…Validation of different physical activity questionnaires in different study populations is also important, and Pettee Gabriel et al (9) and Macfarlane et al (10) demonstrate this in action. Abu Saad et al (11) show how food frequency data can be used to develop rapid assessment tools and Ward et al (12) describe the impact of open v. closed questions on estimates of alcohol intake.…”