Use of a common food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess dietary patterns and their relation to allergy and asthma in Europe: pilot study of the GA2LEN FFQ

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Comparable international data on food and nutrient intake is often hindered by the lack of a common instrument to assess food intake. The objective of this study was within the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network of Excellence (GA 2 LEN), we developed and piloted a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess its validity in Europe. Subjects/Methods: Five countries participating in GA 2 LEN took part in the pilot study. A total of 200 adults aged 31-75 years were invited to complete a FFQ in two occasions and to give a blood sample. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess repeatability of the FFQ. Plasma phospholipid fatty acids (FAs) were analysed by gas chromatography. Pearson correlation was used to analyse the correlation between estimated dietary FA intake and plasma phospholipid FA levels. Results: A total of 177 participants (89%) had complete data on FFQ 1 and plasma phospholipid FAs. In all, 152 participants (76%) completed both FFQs. ICCs between macronutrients ranged from 0.70 (saturated FAs) to 0.78 (proteins) and between 0.70 (retinol) and 0.81 (vitamin D) for micronutrients. Dietary n-3 FAs showed a good correlation with total plasma phospholipid n-3 FAs and with docosahexaenoic acid in the whole sample (0.40) and in individual countries. Poor correlations were observed for other FAs. Conclusions: The GA 2 LEN FFQ is an appropriate tool to estimate dietary intake for a range of nutrients across Europe regardless of cultural and linguistic differences. The FFQ seems to be useful to estimate the intake of n-3 FAs but not other FAs.

Explaining ethnic disparities in lung function among young adults: A pilot investigation

“…These studies provide plausibility that differences between ethnic groups in maternal or childhood diets might be able to explain some of the differences in early adult lung function. Future studies could investigate this using food frequency questionnaires or using dietary biomarkers [40–42]. …”

n-3 Fatty acids and asthma

“…2) (74) . Since tissue and blood fatty acid profiles have been shown to be modified by dietary intake, they have been used as compliance markers for dietary supplementation studies (75)(76)(77) . However, it has yet not explicitly been demonstrated that phospholipid or total lipid content of cells can be used as a marker of dietary intake whilst the differences between different cell populations are confounding variables in the literature.…”

“…In this study, there was a good agreement between the dietary FFQ estimated fatty acid intake and the plasma fatty acid levels (84) . The Global Allergy and Asthma European Network of Excellence (GA 2 LEN) has shown that a reasonable association exists between estimates of dietary n-3 PUFA and total plasma phospholipid composition using the GA 2 LEN FFQ within the European countries that took part in the study (75) . In supplementation studies, while dietary estimates provide information about the dietary behaviour of individuals, the total cell or phospholipid content of fatty acids can be used as a reliable marker of incorporation.…”

Dietary patterns and respiratory health in adults from nine European countries—Evidence from the GA2LEN study

“…Clinical assessment was also done and included measurement of height, weight, allergen skin prick test (SPT), blood samples for total and specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) and lung function. Detailed description of the study is provided elsewhere …”

“…The GA 2 LEN FFQ was validated in five EU countries, namely Finland, Portugal, Germany, Poland, and Greece) and demonstrated to be a good tool to assess midterm intake of foods, specifically essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). 21 The instrument has also been demonstrated to be an accurate tool to assess dietary sources of flavonoids. 26…”