Evaluation of a Novel Single-administration Food Frequency Questionnaire for Assessing Seasonally Varied Dietary Patterns among Women in Rural Nepal

Novel dietary assessment methods are needed to study chronic disease risk in agrarian cultures where food availability is highly seasonal. In 16,320 rural Nepalese women, we tested a novel food frequency questionnaire, administered once, to assess past 7-day intake and usual frequency of intake throughout the year for year-round foods and when in season for seasonal foods. Spearman rank correlations between usual and past 7-day intakes were 0.12–0.85 and weighted kappa statistics, representing chance-corrected agreement, were 0.10–0.80, with better agreement for frequently consumed foods. The questionnaire performed well, but may require refinement for settings of extremely low dietary diversity

Evaluation of a Novel Single-administration Food Frequency Questionnaire for Assessing Seasonally Varied Dietary Patterns among Women in Rural Nepal

Novel dietary assessment methods are needed to study chronic disease risk in agrarian cultures where food availability is highly seasonal. In 16,320 rural Nepalese women, we tested a novel food frequency questionnaire, administered once, to assess past 7-day intake and usual frequency of intake throughout the year for year-round foods and when in season for seasonal foods. Spearman rank correlations between usual and past 7-day intakes were 0.12–0.85 and weighted kappa statistics, representing chance-corrected agreement, were 0.10–0.80, with better agreement for frequently consumed foods. The questionnaire performed well, but may require refinement for settings of extremely low dietary diversity

Diet quality measured by four a priori-defined diet quality indices is associated with lipid-soluble micronutrients in the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC)

© 2018, Springer Nature Limited. Background/Objectives: This study examined the long-term relation of lipid-soluble micronutrients with diet quality as assessed by four a priori-defined dietary patterns. Subjects/Methods: In a prospective design, nutritional biomarkers (carotenoids, tocopherols, retinol, and coenzyme Q10) were measured using a validated HPLC-based assay. General linear models were applied to obtain covariate-adjusted means of biomarkers for tertiles of four a priori diet quality indices: Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010, Alternative HEI (AHEI) 2010, Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (aMED), and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH). For a subcohort of 8367 participants within the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), diet was assessed by a validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire in 1993–96 and serum was collected in 2001–06. Results: Participants with the highest diet-quality scores had significantly higher serum concentrations of all carotenoids, total tocopherols, and a-tocopherol, whereas ?-tocopherol was inversely associated with diet quality. Adjusted means for the lowest vs. highest tertile of HEI 2010 were 1.2 vs. 1.5 mg/L for total carotenoids, 11.4 vs. 12.3 mg/L for total tocopherols, and 1.9 vs. 1.6 mg/L for ?-tocopherol (ptrend < 0.0001). The associations for the other dietary indices were similar; no indication for sex and ethnic differences was detected. Vegetable and fruit components were major predictors of most circulating micronutrients, but most other components were also associated. Conclusions: Higher diet-quality scores measured by four a priori diet quality indices were significantly associated higher serum concentrations of carotenoids and a-tocopherol, whereas ?-tocopherol was inversely associated with diet quality