Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire to assess omega‐3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake in Australian children aged 9–13 years

• Published in: Journal of human nutrition and dietetics Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 429 - 438
• Main Authors: Rahmawaty, S., Charlton, K., Lyons‐Wall, P., Meyer, B. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Australia; Baby foods; Categories; Child; Children; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diaries; Diet; Diet Records; Diet Surveys; dietary assessment; Docosahexaenoic acid; Docosahexaenoic Acids - administration & dosage; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic Acid - administration & dosage; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - administration & dosage; Female; Food; food frequency questionnaire; Food groups; Humans; Intakes; Male; Nutrition Assessment; omega‐3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake; Pilot Projects; Polls & surveys; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Recruitment; Reproducibility; Reproducibility of Results; Schools; food frequency questionnaire; dietary assessment; omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake; Australia; children
• DOI: 10.1111/jhn.12439
• ISSN: 0952-3871

Background The present study aimed to develop a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) assessing dietary omega‐3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n‐3 LCPUFA) intake in Australian children and to validate the FFQ against a 7‐day food diary. Methods The investigation comprised a cross‐sectional and validation study. The study setting was two private primary schools in the in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Twenty‐two Australian children, aged 9–13 years, who were not on a special diet or receiving medical care that limited their food choice in the 3 months prior to recruitment, were recruited into the study. Results A total of 131 items, classified according to seven food group categories, was included in the n‐3 LCPUFA FFQ, as identified from published dietary surveys and a supermarket survey. Good correlations between the FFQ and the 7‐day food diary were observed for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) [r = 0.691, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.51–0.83, P < 0.001], docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (r = 0.684, 95% CI = 0.45–0.84, P < 0.001) and total n‐3 LCPUFA (r = 0.687, 95% CI = 0.48–0.85, P < 0.001). Bland–Altman plots showed an acceptable limit of agreement between the FFQ and the average 7‐day food diary. However, the mean EPA, DHA and total n‐3 LCPUFA intakes estimated from the FFQ were significantly higher than those from the average 7‐day food diary estimates (P < 0.001). Conclusions A novel n‐3 LCPUFA FFQ that has been developed to estimate dietary n‐3 LCPUFA intakes in Australian children has been shown to have relative validity. The FFQ provides a useful contribution to dietary assessment methodology in this age group; however, reproducibility remains to be demonstrated.