Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:20:29.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can the EPIC food-frequency questionnaire be used in adolescent populations?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Georg Lietz ,
Karen L Barton ,
Patricia J Longbottom  and
Annie S Anderson
Georg Lietz*
Affiliation:
Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee University, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK Present address: Human Nutrition Research Centre, Department of Biological and Nutritional Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Karen L Barton
Affiliation:
Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee University, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK
Patricia J Longbottom
Affiliation:
Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee University, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK
Annie S Anderson
Affiliation:
Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Department of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee University, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

To assess the validity of the food-frequency questionnaire used in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC FFQ) for estimating nutrient intake in an adolescent population.

Design:

Sixty-seven schoolchildren (mean age: 12.3±0.3 years) were recruited to complete a 7-day weighed dietary record (7-day WDR), the EPIC FFQ and supply one 24-hour urine collection.

Setting:

Harris Academy in Dundee (UK).

Results:

Fifty subjects completed both dietary assessment methods. Thirteen of these were classified as underreporters with energy intake/basal metabolic rate<1.14. The EPIC FFQ showed higher estimates than the 7-day WDR for all nutrients. The median Spearman correlation coefficient for the nutrients examined was found to be 0.31 and increased to 0.48 after adjustment for total energy. The limits of agreement were as far apart as 13.4 MJ, 120 g, 270 g, 120 g and 1170 mg for energy, fat, sugar, protein and calcium, respectively. Correlations between urine and 7-day WDR dietary nitrogen and potassium were found to be statistically significant with r = 0.45 (P<0.05) and r = 0.78 (P<0.001), respectively. The median proportion of subjects that appeared in the same and opposite third of intake was found to be 45.9% and 10.8%, respectively.

Conclusions:

The EPIC FFQ seems adequate to correctly classify low, medium and high consumers and might therefore be used to identify adolescent population groups at risk or for differences between populations. However, agreement between the EPIC FFQ and the 7-day WDR was very poor on both a group and an individual basis, and demonstrates that the EPIC FFQ is not an appropriate method for estimating absolute intakes in this age group.

Keywords

AdolescentFood-frequency questionnaireWeighed food recordsUrine
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 5 , Issue 6 , December 2002 , pp. 783 - 789
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2002

References

1Newman, WP, Freeman, DS, Voors, AW, Gard, PD, Srinivasan, SR, Cresanta, JL, et al. Relation of serum lipoprotein levels and systolic blood pressure to early atherosclerosis. The Bogalusa Heart Study. N. Engl. J. Med. 1986; 314(3): 138–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Block, G, Patterson, B, Subar, A. Fruit, vegetables and cancer prevention: a review of the epidemiological evidence. Nutr. Cancer. 1992; 18(1): 1–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Anderson, AS, MacIntyre, S, West, P. Dietary patterns among adolescents in the West of Scotland. Br. J. Nutr. 1994; 71: 111–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Story, M, Resnick, MD. Adolescents' views on food and nutrition. J. Nutr. Educ. 1986; 18(4): 188–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5Samuelson, G. Dietary habits and nutritional status in adolescents over Europe. An overview of current studies in the Nordic countries. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2000; 54: S21–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Livingstone, MBE, Prentice, AM, Coward, WA, Strain, JJ, Black, AE, Davies, PSW, et al. Validation of estimates of energy intake by weighed dietary record and diet history in children and adolescents. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1992; 56: 29–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Bratteby, LE, Sandhagen, B, Fan, H, Enghardt, H, Samuelson, G. Total energy expenditure and physical activity as assessed by the doubly labeled water method in Swedish adolescents in whom energy intake was underestimated by 7-d diet records. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1998; 67: 905–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food & Department of Health. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Young People aged 4–18 years. Vol. 1: Report of the Diet and Nutrition Survey. London: The Stationary Office, 2000.Google Scholar
9Pietinen, P, Hartman, AM, Haapa, E, Räsänen, L, Haapakoski, J, Palmgren, J, et al. Reproducibility and validity of dietary assessment instruments. II. A qualitative food frequency questionnaire. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1988; 128(3): 667–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Rockett, HRH, Breitenbach, M, Frazier, AL, Witschi, J, Wolf, AW, Field, AE, et al. Validation of a youth/adolescent food frequency questionnaire. Prev. Med. 1997; 26: 808–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Robinson, S, Skelton, R, Barker, M, Wilman, C. Assessing the diet of adolescent girls in the UK. Public Health Nutr. 1999; 2(4): 571–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Willett, WC, Sampson, L, Stampfer, MJ, Rosner, B, Bain, C, Witschi, J, et al. Reproducibility and validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1985; 122(1): 51–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Bingham, S, Gill, C, Welch, A, Cassidy, A, Runswick, SA, Oakes, S, et al. Validation of dietary assessment methods in the UK arm of EPIC using weighed records, and 24-hour urinary nitrogen and potassium and serum vitamin C and carotenoids as biomarkers. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1997; 26(Suppl. 1): S137–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14McKeown, NM, Day, NE, Welch, AA, Runswick, SA, Luben, RN, Mulligan, AA, et al. Use of biological markers to validate self-reported dietary intake in a random sample of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer United Kingdom Norfolk cohort. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2001; 74: 188–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Food Portion Sizes, 2nd ed. London: HMSO, 1994.Google Scholar
16Neson, M, Atkinson, M, Myer, J. A Photographic Atlas of Food Portion Sizes. London: MAFF Publications, 1997.Google Scholar
17Thomas, B. Manual of Dietetic Practice, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1994.Google Scholar
18Strain, JJ, Robson, PJ, Livingstone, MBE, Primrose, ED, Savage, JM, Cran, GW, et al. Estimates of food and macro-nutrient intake in a random sample of Northern Ireland adolescents. Br. J. Nutr. 1994; 72: 343–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Department of Health. Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients for the United Kingdom. London: HM Stationery Office, 1991.Google Scholar
20Willett, W. Nutritional Epidemiology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.Google Scholar
21Bland, JM, Altman, DG. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1986; 1: 307–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Cole, TJ, Bellizzi, MC, Flegal, KM, Dietz, WH. Body mass index in children worldwide: cut-off points for overweight and obesity. Br. Med. J. 2000; 320: 1240–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Yarnell, JWG, Fehily, AM, Milbank, JE, Sweetnam, PM, Walker, CL. A short dietary questionnaire for use in an epidemiological survey: comparison with weighed dietary records. Hum. Nutr. Appl. Nutr. 1983; 37A: 103–12.Google Scholar
24Tønneland, A, Overvad, K, Haraldsdottir, J, Bang, S, Ewertz, M, Jensen, OM. Validation of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire developed in Denmark. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1991; 20: 906–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Bingham, SA, Gill, C, Welch, A, Day, K, Cassidy, A, Khaw, KT, et al. Comparison of dietary assessment methods in nutritional epidemiology: weighed records v. 24 h recalls, food-frequency questionnaires and estimated-diet records. Br. J. Nutr. 1994; 72: 619–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Schröder, H, Covas, MI, Marrugat, J, Vila, J, Pena, A, Alcantara, M, et al. Use of a three-day estimated food record, a 72-hour recall and a food-frequency questionnaire for dietary assessment in a Mediterranean Spanish population. Clin. Nutr. 2001; 20(5): 429–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Frost Andersen, L, Nes, M, Lillegaard, IT, Sandstad, B, Bjørneboe, G, Drevon, CA. Evaluation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire used in a group of Norwegian adolescents. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1995; 49: 543–54.Google Scholar
28Bates, CJ, Thurnham, DI, Bingham, SA, Margetts, BM, Nelson, M. Biochemical markers of nutrient intake. In: Margetts, BM, Nelson, M, eds. Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000; 170–240.Google Scholar
29Bingham, SA, Cassidy, A, Cole, TJ, Welch, A, Runswick, SA, Black, AE, et al. Validation of weighed records and other methods of dietary assessment using the 24 h urine technique and other biological markers. Br. J. Nutr. 1995; 73: 531–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Porrini, M, Gentile, M, Fidanza, F. Biochemical validation of a self-administered semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Br. J. Nutr. 1995; 74: 323–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed