Nutrition
Volume 27, Issue 3 , Pages 302-309, March 2011

Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire for Flemish and Italian-native subjects in Belgium: The IMMIDIET study

  • Martien C.J.M. van Dongen, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +31-43-388-2364; fax +31-43-388-4128.
    • ,
  • Marleen A.H. Lentjes, R.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Nicole E.G. Wijckmans, R.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Carla Dirckx, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    • ,
  • Dirk Lemaître, R.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • Ward Achten, R.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    • ,
  • Marleen Celis, R.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    • ,
  • Sabina Sieri, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, National Cancer Institute–Milan, Milan, Italy
    • ,
  • Jef Arnout, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    • ,
  • Frank Buntinx, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Practice, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    • ,
  • Alfonso Siani, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Unit of Epidemiology and Population Genetics, Institute of Food Sciences CNR, Avellino, Italy
    • ,
  • Francesco P. Cappuccio, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Clinical Sciences Research Institute, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
    • ,
  • Michel de Lorgeril, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Laboratoire Nutrition, Vieillissement et Maladies Cardiovasculaires, UFR de Médécine et Pharmacie, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France
    • ,
  • Licia Iacoviello, M.D., Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Centre for High Technology Research and Education in Biomedical Sciences, Catholic University, Campobasso, Italy
    • ,
  • Pieter C. Dagnelie, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • European Collaborative Group of the IMMIDIET Project

Received 6 February 2010; accepted 11 February 2010. published online 28 June 2010.

Abstract 

Objective

To validate an integrated food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed to assess habitual food intake of Flemish and Italian-native subjects in Belgium as part of the European Collaborative Dietary Habit Profile in European Communities With Different Risk of Myocardial Infarction: the Impact of Migration as a Model of Gene/Environment Interaction (IMMIDIET Project).

Methods

The semiquantitative FFQ contained 322 items on food and food preparation. FFQs filled by a sample (n = 70) of the Flemish-Flemish and Flemish-Italian IMMIDIET subpopulations were randomly selected. Five 24-h recalls, administered over a period of 1 y by the same sample, served for validation. Energy and macronutrients were calculated using the Dutch NEVO and the Belgian NUBEL food composition tables. Intakes of energy and macronutrients estimated by the FFQ and repeated 24-h recall, respectively, were compared by means of correlation coefficients, classification into quartiles, and Bland-Altman plotting.

Results

The FFQ overestimated intake of energy and most macronutrients by 40–70%. This overestimation largely disappeared when values were expressed as energy percentage. Correlations ranked from 0.40 to 0.60 for energy and most macronutrients (median 0.53); correlations were lower (null to 0.41) for fat and higher (up to 0.90) for alcohol. Classification in quartiles of intake showed good agreement: 83% were classified in the same or adjacent quartile of energy, and 66–90% for macronutrients. Correlations and classification of macronutrient intake into quartiles remained similar when macronutrients were expressed as energy percentage. Stratification according to ethnic subgroup, age, body mass index, or social status showed no differences.

Conclusion

The IMMIDIET FFQ is a valuable tool for studies of the role of energy and macronutrients in disease etiology or outcome, but less suitable for estimating absolute intake levels.

Keywords: Food-frequency questionnaire, Validation, 24-h Recall, Dietary Habit Profile in European Communities With Different Risk of Myocardial Infarction: the Impact of Migration as a Model of Gene/Environment Interaction (IMMIDIET), Mediterranean diet

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 The Dietary Habit Profile in European Communities With Different Risk of Myocardial Infarction: the Impact of Migration as a Model of Gene/Environment Interaction (IMMIDIET Project) was funded by the European Union 5th Framework Programme, Subprogramme 1.1.1.-1, Food, Nutrition and Health grant QLRT-2000-00100.

PII: S0899-9007(10)00065-1

doi:10.1016/j.nut.2010.02.006

Nutrition
Volume 27, Issue 3 , Pages 302-309, March 2011

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