Nutrients 2019, 11(1), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11010159
Parents’ Reports of Preschoolers’ Diets: Relative Validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire and Dietary Patterns
Liisa Korkalo 1,†
, Henna Vepsäläinen 1,*,†, Carola Ray 2, Essi Skaffari 1, Reetta Lehto 2, Helena Henrietta Hauta-alus 3, Kaija Nissinen 4, Jelena Meinilä 2,5, Eva Roos 2,6 and Maijaliisa Erkkola 1
, Henna Vepsäläinen 1,*,†, Carola Ray 2, Essi Skaffari 1, Reetta Lehto 2, Helena Henrietta Hauta-alus 3, Kaija Nissinen 4, Jelena Meinilä 2,5, Eva Roos 2,6 and Maijaliisa Erkkola 1
1
Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 66, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
2
Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, 00250 Helsinki, Finland
3
Children’s Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Biomedicum 2 C, P.O. Box 705, 00020 HUS Helsinki, Finland
4
Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Kampusranta 11, 60101 Seinäjoki, Finland
5
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, P.O. Box 22, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
6
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received: 3 December 2018 / Revised: 8 January 2019 / Accepted: 9 January 2019 / Published: 13 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Behavior and Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents)
Abstract
The accurate assessment of food consumption is crucial in nutritional studies. Since modern nutrition science has become more interested in diet as a whole, studies validating food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and exploratory dietary patterns are needed. We aimed at examining the relative validity of a 47-item FFQ against three-day food records among three- to six-year-old Finnish children, as well as investigating the consistency of the dietary patterns derived using the principal component analysis (PCA), with food record and FFQ data as inputs. We conducted the PCA without forcing the food record data to match the FFQ items. Altogether, 75% or more of the participants were classified into the same or adjacent quarter of vegetables and fruits as well as sugary food consumption. Furthermore, the intake of folate and vitamin C increased linearly in the quarters of vegetable and fruit consumption, as did the intake of sucrose in quarters of sugary food consumption. Three fairly similar dietary patterns were identified from food records and FFQ data. Concerning the patterns, more than 70% of the participants were classified into the same or adjacent quarter. However, the Spearman correlation coefficients between the respective pattern scores were low (0.25–0.33). The FFQ showed acceptable validity when ranking food group consumption compared to food records. Additionally, the FFQ-derived dietary patterns were consistent with those derived using food record data. View Full-TextKeywords:
validation study; dietary assessment methods; food diary; cross-classification; children; whole diet; preschool; DAGIS Study
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
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Korkalo, L.; Vepsäläinen, H.; Ray, C.; Skaffari, E.; Lehto, R.; Hauta-alus, H.H.; Nissinen, K.; Meinilä, J.; Roos, E.; Erkkola, M. Parents’ Reports of Preschoolers’ Diets: Relative Validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire and Dietary Patterns. Nutrients 2019, 11, 159.
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