Comparison of a food frequency questionnaire with an online dietary assessment tool for assessing preschool children's dietary intake

Background: It is important to assess the dietary habits of children as they progress from early childhood to adolescence. However, there are few validated tools available to assess the diet of this group of children. The present study aimed to investigate the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed for use in a biennial longitudinal study. Methods: The parents of 216 Belgian-Flemish preschool children completed a FFQ (including questions on 77 food groups) and an online dietary assessment tool for three nonconsecutive days on their child's diet. Intakes of energy, macronutrients, fibre, calcium and 20 food groups recorded by both methods were compared using Spearman's correlations, Wilcoxon's signed rank test and Bland and Altman analyses. Results: At the group level, good agreement was found for energy, fat and protein intake, an overestimation was found for carbohydrates (5.6%) and fibre (13.3%), and an underestimation was found for calcium (9%). For the food groups, overestimation as well as underestimation and good agreement were found, although overestimation was most common. Good agreement was found in ranking the children's fruit (r = 0.53), beverages (r = 0.58-0.76), soup (r = 0.51), breakfast cereals (r = 0.55) and calcium (r = 0.59) intake according to both methods. Conclusion: The results obtained revealed that the FFQ was a useful alternative for estimating energy and macronutrient intake at a group level; however, when used to estimate fibre and calcium intake, respectively, over- and underestimation need to be considered. The short reference period (3 days) may have compromised agreement in ranking and agreement at the individual level

Feasibility of the Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web

Methods to assess detailed dietary data are cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to implement with large samples. The purpose of the present article was to evaluate the feasibility of collecting data from parents about their child's diet using an online dietary assessment tool. The Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web was developed as part of a longitudinal study of familial influences on food intake of preschool children. A sample of 862 parents from 56 nursery schools completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire containing sociodemographic variables and a food frequency questionnaire about their child's diet and psychosocial variables. Subsequently, a subset of parents was asked to either complete a paper-and-pencil food diary or the Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web (n=88); those remaining who provided e-mail addresses were asked to complete the Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web (n=467) and a user-acceptability questionnaire. This resulted in 39 useful paper-and-pencil diaries, 217 useful Young Children's Nutrition Assessments on the Web, and 164 user-acceptability questionnaires. Mann-Whitney U tests comparing nutrient (macronutrients, vitamin C, calcium, and fiber) and food group intakes from data collected with the Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web vs paper-and-pencil diaries resulted in no substantial differences except for water. Attrition analyses indicated that dropout for the online assessment was associated with the sex of the respondent (father completing the questionnaire), lower social status, being a smoker, and lower nutrition knowledge. The online measure was well-received by respondents. The majority found it user-friendly (79%), attractive (68%), and clear (93%). The Young Children's Nutrition Assessment on the Web is a promising tool to collect online dietary data. in large-scale surveys

Young adolescents' nutrition assessment on computer (YANA-C)

Objective: To assess the relative validity and acceptability of the computerised 24-h recall 'Young Adolescent's Nutrition Assessment on Computer ( YANA-C)'.status: publishe

Development and evaluation of a self-administered computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents in Europe

Objective: To describe the development of a European computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents, and to investigate the feasibility of self-administration (self report) by comparison with administration by a dietician (interview).status: publishe

Development and evaluation of self-administered computerized 24 h dietary recall method for adolescents in Europe

Objective: To describe the development of a European computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents, and to investigate the feasibility of self-administration (self report) by comparison with administration by a dietician (interview). Methods: Two hundred and thirty-six adolescents (mean age 14.6 years (s.d. 1.7)) of eight European cities completed the 24-h recall (Young Adolescents Nutrition Assessment on Computer (YANA-C)) twice (once by self-report and once by interview). Results: A small but significant underestimate in energy (61 (s.e. 31) kcal) and fat (4.2 (s.e. 1.7) g) intake was found in the self-reports in comparison with the interviews; no significant differences were found for the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, calcium, iron and ascorbic acid. Spearman's correlations were highly significant for all nutrients and energy ranging between 0.86 and 0.91. Agreement in categorizing the respondents as consumers and non-consumers for the 29 food groups was high (kappa statistics >= 0.73). Percentage omissions were on average 3.7%; percentage intrusions: 2.0%. Spearman's correlations between both modes were high for all food groups, for the total sample (>= 0.76) as well as for the consumers only (>= 0.72). Analysing the consumer only, on an average 54% of the consumed amounts were exactly the same; nevertheless, only for one group 'rice and pasta' a significant difference in consumption was found. Conclusion: Adaptation, translation and standardization of YANA-C make it possible to assess the dietary intake of adolescents in a broad international context. In general, good agreement between the administration modes was found, the latter offering significant potential for large-scale surveys where the amount of resources to gather data is limited

Development and evaluation of a self-administered computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents in Europe

Objective: To describe the development of a European computerized 24-h dietary recall method for adolescents, and to investigate the feasibility of self-administration (self report) by comparison with administration by a dietician (interview). Methods: Two hundred and thirty-six adolescents (mean age 14.6 years (s.d. 1.7)) of eight European cities completed the 24-h recall (Young Adolescents Nutrition Assessment on Computer (YANA-C)) twice (once by self-report and once by interview). Results: A small but significant underestimate in energy (61 (s.e. 31) kcal) and fat (4.2 (s.e. 1.7) g) intake was found in the self-reports in comparison with the interviews; no significant differences were found for the intake of carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, calcium, iron and ascorbic acid. Spearman's correlations were highly significant for all nutrients and energy ranging between 0.86 and 0.91. Agreement in categorizing the respondents as consumers and non-consumers for the 29 food groups was high (kappa statistics >= 0.73). Percentage omissions were on average 3.7%; percentage intrusions: 2.0%. Spearman's correlations between both modes were high for all food groups, for the total sample (>= 0.76) as well as for the consumers only (>= 0.72). Analysing the consumer only, on an average 54% of the consumed amounts were exactly the same; nevertheless, only for one group 'rice and pasta' a significant difference in consumption was found. Conclusion: Adaptation, translation and standardization of YANA-C make it possible to assess the dietary intake of adolescents in a broad international context. In general, good agreement between the administration modes was found, the latter offering significant potential for large-scale surveys where the amount of resources to gather data is limited