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

MilkCheese, yogurt

Meat, fish, poultryeggs

Peanut butter, nuts

Dry beans, peas, tofu,

soyBread

Coffee, teaFast 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.

13-items screening questionnaire for fat intake

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 respondentsDepends on ability of subject to describe

dietRelatively inexpensive for large sample

sizesMay 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:

THANK YOU