Current research: Disagreement of energy and macronutrient intakes estimated from a food frequency questionnaire and a 3-day diet record in girls 4 to 9 years of age

Background The Block98 food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has been validated for dietary assessment of usual intakes in adults, but not in children. Objective To assess the agreement of the Block98 FFQ and 3-day diet records for measuring dietary intakes in young girls. Subjects/Setting Healthy 4- to 9-year-old girls (N=61; 6.5+/-1.6 years) were recruited from the Athens/Clarke county area in Georgia. Design Dietary intakes were measured using the Block98 FFQ and 3-day diet records, with nutrient analysis of the 3-day diet records Conducted using the Food Processor computer program (ESHA; version 7.21, 1998, ESHA Research, Salem, OR). The Block98 FFQ was completed by a trained interviewer and parent, with input from the child, if able. Food models and portion size pictures were used to increase reporting accuracy. Statistical Analysis Paired sample t tests and simple regression were conducted to determine whether the two diet instruments reported similar values for energy and macronutrients. Results Block98 FFQ overestimated intakes from 3-day diet records for energy (2,180 692 vs 1,749+/-328 kcal), protein (68.3+/-25.9 vs 57.9+/-14.8 g/day), carbohydrate (298.7+/-97.0 vs 244.7+/-46.1 g/day) and fat (83.6+/-30.5 vs 62.3+/-14.7 g/day) (P<.05). Furthermore, the nutrients assessed using the two different methods were only moderately correlated (range: r=0.40 to 0.55). Applications/Conclusions The Block98 FFQ agreed weakly to moderately with the 3-day diet records, and resulted in consistently higher intakes of all nutrients. These findings suggest that additional work is needed to develop a FFQ that reflects young children's energy and macronutrient intakes.