Reproducibility and Validity of an Extensive Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire Among Greek School Teachers

Gnardellis, Charalambos; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Katsouyanni, Klea; Polychronopoulos, Evangelos; Rimm, Eric B.; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios

doi:10.1097/00001648-199501000-00015

Cited by 129 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The findings in the present study did not change when non-differential exposure measurement errors introduced by the FFQ were corrected in relation to an average of 12 monthly 24 hr recalls collected from a subset of the controls. Twenty-four hour recalls agree surprisingly well with weighed records and food diaries 21,22 and multiple 24 hr recalls have been widely used as the reference method in FFQ validation studies 23 but their sources of error may not be totally independent since both methods rely on memory. The mean intake of vegetables and fruits among South Asians in our study were, however, similar to those reported by others that used different dietary assessment methods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Lifelong vegetarianism and risk of breast cancer: A population‐based case‐control study among South Asian migrant women living in England

dos‐Santos‐Silva

Mangtani

McCormack

et al. 2002

Intl Journal of Cancer

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To investigate the role of lifelong vegetarianism on the aetiology of female breast cancer, we conducted a population-based case-control study among South Asian migrant women from the Indian subcontinent resident in England. A total of 240 South Asian breast cancer cases were identified from 2 cancer registries during 1995-1999. For each case, 2 age-matched South Asian controls were randomly selected from the age-sex register of the case practice. Lifelong vegetarians had a slight reduction, although not statistically significant, in the odds of breast cancer relative to lifelong meat-eaters, which persisted after adjustment for socio-demographic and reproductive variables [odds ratio (OR)‫;77.0؍‬ 95% confidence interval (CI)‫05.0؍‬ -1.18]. Analysis by food group revealed no linear trend in the odds of breast cancer with increasing consumption of meat (p‫)01.0؍‬ but the odds were higher for women in the top 75%. In contrast, there were strong inverse trends in the odds of breast cancer with increasing intake of vegetables (p‫,)500.0؍‬ pulses (p‫)700.0؍‬ and fibre [non-starch polysaccharides, NSP (p‫,])20.0؍‬ with women in the highest 25% of intake of these foods having about 50% of the odds of those in the lowest ones. Adjustment for intake of vegetables and pulses reverted the odds of breast cancer in lifelong vegetarians relative to lifelong meateaters (OR‫;40.1؍‬ 95% CI‫)86.1-56.0؍‬ and attenuated the quartile-specific estimates for meat intake, whereas the inverse trends in the odds of breast cancer with intake of vegetables and pulses remained after adjustment for type of diet or meat intake. These findings suggest that lifelong vegetarianism may be associated with a reduction in the risk of breast cancer through its association with a higher intake of vegetables and pulses. Although it is not possible to exclude the possibility that lifelong meat abstention may also play a role, the findings provide evidence that a diet rich in vegetables and pulses, such as those typically found in South Asian diets, may be protective against this cancer. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: breast cancer; diet; vegetarianism; migrants; South Asians; EnglandMigrant 1,2 and ecological 3 studies have supported the hypothesis that diet may play a role in the aetiology of female breast cancer. However, results from cohort and case-control studies have been inconsistent. Deficiencies in study design or inaccuracies of dietary assessment methods that introduce non-differential misclassification of exposure leading to relative risk estimates biased towards unity could have contributed to the conflicting results. In addition, a common difficulty in investigating relationships between dietary factors and breast cancer risks with case-control or cohort studies, especially if they are likely to be weak associations, is the relative homogeneity of the diet of Western populations where most such epidemiological studies have been carried out. South Asian populations such as those in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are characterised by a l...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Lifelong vegetarianism and risk of breast cancer: A population‐based case‐control study among South Asian migrant women living in England

dos‐Santos‐Silva

Mangtani

McCormack

et al. 2002

Intl Journal of Cancer

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“…Usual dietary intake over the past year was assessed by a validated, semiquantitative, interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (Gnardellis et al, 1995;Katsouyianni et al, 1997), including approximately 150 food items and beverages, as well as questions on habitual cooking methods, type of lipids used in cooking, etc. Standard portion sizes were used for the estimation of consumed quantities (Trichopoulou, 1992;Gnardellis et al, 1995), and nutrient intakes were calculated using a food composition database modified to accommodate the particularities of the Greek diet (Trichopoulou, 1992).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Standard portion sizes were used for the estimation of consumed quantities (Trichopoulou, 1992;Gnardellis et al, 1995), and nutrient intakes were calculated using a food composition database modified to accommodate the particularities of the Greek diet (Trichopoulou, 1992). Intakes were expressed as grams per day, accounting for seasonal variation (Katsouyianni et al, 1997).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing the Mediterranean diet through principal components and cluster analyses in the Greek population

et al. 2003

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Objective: To identify dietary patterns, and their socio-demographic and lifestyle correlates in a large sample of Greek adults, and assess their adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet. Design: Principal component (PC) analysis was used to identify dietary patterns among 28 034 participants of the Greek branch of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Dietary information was collected through a validated, semiquantitative, food-frequency questionnaire. The extracted PCs were subsequently regressed on sociodemographic and lifestyle variables. Analyses were also performed to classify individuals with similar dietary behavior into clusters. Results: Four PCs were identified: PC1 resembled the Mediterranean diet, PC2 approximated a vegetarian diet with emphasis on seed oils, PC3 reflected a preference for sweets, and PC4 reflected a Western diet. PC1 and PC2 were positively associated with age, education, physical activity, and nonsmoking status. Females, in comparison to males, scored higher on PC1 but lower on PC2. Males, younger, more educated individuals, nonsmokers and residents of Greater Athens (Attica) scored higher on PC3. PC4 was associated with younger age, less education, and current smoking. In cluster analyses, cluster A contrasted clusters B and C in having much higher mean PC1-and PC2-scores and substantially lower PC3-and PC4-scores. PC1 and PC4 were, respectively, positively and inversely correlated with an a priori Mediterranean-diet score; PC2 and PC3 were unrelated to it. Conclusion: The Mediterranean-like PC1-score as well as the vegetarian-like PC2 were higher among older, more educated people, and were associated with a healthier lifestyle than PC4, which reflected a Western-type diet. PC1 was strongly positively associated with an a priori Mediterranean-diet score.

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“…Data on diet and energy intake An interviewer-administered FFQ including approximately 150 foods and beverages commonly consumed in Greece was used to assess dietary intake (24) . The interview focused on the year before enrolment, to accommodate seasonal variation, but is likely to adequately reflect the diet during several years preceding enrolment (25,26) .…”

Section: Study Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet, physical activity and cognitive impairment among elders: the EPIC–Greece cohort (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition)

Ψαλτοπούλου

Kyrozis

Stathopoulos

et al. 2008

Public Health Nutr.

149

112

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Reproducibility and Validity of an Extensive Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire Among Greek School Teachers

Cited by 129 publications

References 9 publications

Lifelong vegetarianism and risk of breast cancer: A population‐based case‐control study among South Asian migrant women living in England

Lifelong vegetarianism and risk of breast cancer: A population‐based case‐control study among South Asian migrant women living in England

Tracing the Mediterranean diet through principal components and cluster analyses in the Greek population

Diet, physical activity and cognitive impairment among elders: the EPIC–Greece cohort (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition)

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