Food Frequency QuestionnairesBY:
Noura Al-Ghilan , Ohood Al-Mubarak , Sara Al-Babtain
King Saud UniversityCollege of Applied Medical SciencesDepartment of Clinical NutritionNutritional AssessmentMs. Wa’ad Al-Fawaz
• Over the past two decades, food frequency
questionnaires have become a well-accepted
method for quantitative assessment usual nutrient
intake.
• Many question remain about the accuracy &
appropriateness of FFQ's especially when more
precise estimates of actual food intake are desired.
HISTORY:
CONT,
• There are, however, many practical
advantages to FFQ's that motivate their use in
a number of specific research applications.
• Research to improve the validity of FFQ's &
modify their characteristics for specific research
questions is well warranted.
Food Frequency Questionnaires
• Assess energy and/or nutrient intake by
determining how frequently a person consumes a
limited number of foods that are major sources of
nutrients or of a particular dietary component in
question.
CONT,
• The questionnaires consist of a list of
approximately 150 or fewer individual foods or
food groups that are important contributors to the
population's intake of energy and nutrients.
• Respondents indicate how many times a day,
week, month, or year that they usually consume
the foods.
There are three epidemiological study
types for which FFQ's are necessary:
• In case-control study.
• In very large longitudinal study.
• Large intervention study.
Sample Food Frequency Questionnaire for Adolescents Food Frequency Form. How often do you eat the following foods? (Put an “X” on the line.)
Seldom Never
times/week
Once/day 2-3
once/day More than
Milk
Cheese, yogurt
Meat, fish, poultry
eggs
Peanut butter, nuts
Dry beans, peas, tofu,
soy
Bread
Coffee, tea
Fast food
Some questionnaires, known as "screeners" have
been designed to assess intake of individual
nutrients or food components, such as vitamin A,
fat, or calcium, for studies investigating the
relationships between diet and such conditions as
cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Limitations StrengthsMay not represent usual foods or portion
sizes chosen by respondentsCan be self-administered
Intake data can be compromised when multiple foods are grouped with single
listings
Machine readable
Modest demand on respondents
Depends on ability of subject to describe diet
Relatively inexpensive for large sample sizes
May be more representative of usual intake than a few days of diet records
Design can be based on large population data.
Strength and Limitations of Food Frequency Questionnaires: