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Validity of a questionnaire to assess fruit and vegetable intake in adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 408–415 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To validate a method for assessing fruit and vegetable intake among adults in a population of low intake. The method assesses mean intake and ranks individuals by their usual intake.

Design:

A precoded fruit and vegetable Questionnaire included a 24-h recall and a food frequency. The participants filled in the Questionnaire, a week later they started a 7-day food record, 1-day weighed record and 6 days using household measures.

Subjects:

Following advertisements 40 participants were recruited, 36 returned food records(mean age=37 years).

Results:

No difference was observed between the average intake yielded by the 24-h recall and that from the 1-day weighed food record of fruits or vegetables. Correlation coefficients between results from the food frequency questionnaire and the 7-day food records were 0.45 (P=0.007) for vegetables, 0.63 (P<0.001) for fruits and 0.73 (P<0.001) for fruits and vegetables combined. Cross-classification into quartiles showed that the proportion of participants in the same or the adjacent quartile of the intake distribution were 94% for fruit intake and 80% for vegetable intake. Registered intake of fruits and vegetables was higher the first 4 days of the record than the last 3 days (P=0.002). The 4-day food record correlated with the food frequency questionnaire in similar manner as the 7-day record.

Conclusion:

The present study indicates that the precoded 24-h recall may be valuable tool for measuring average intake of fruits and vegetables among adults in a population of low intake. Moreover, the food frequency questionnaire was valid for ranking individuals according to their usual intake. A 4-day food record might be sufficient when validating food frequency questionnaires for fruits and vegetables.

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Acknowledgements

This study has been carried out with financial support from the Commission of the European Communities, specific RTD programme ‘Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources’, QLK1-2001-00547 ‘Promoting and Sustaining Health through Increased Vegetable and Fruit Consumption among European Schoolchildren’ (Pro Children). It does not necessarily reflect its views and in no way anticipates the Commission's future policy in this area.

The Pro Children consortium consists of the following partners: Knut-Inge Klepp (Coordinator), Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Carmen Perez Rodrigo, Unidad de Nutricion Comunitaria, Bilbao, Spain; Inga Thorsdottir, Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; Pernille Due, Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida, Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Portugal; Ibrahim Elmadfa, Institute of Nutrition, University of Vienna, Austria; Jóhanna Haraldsdóttir, Research Department of Human Nutrition, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark; Johannes Brug, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of Public Health, the Netherlands; Michael Sjöström, Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landspitali-University Hospital & Department of Food Science, Unit for Nutrition Research, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    A G Kristjansdottir & I Thorsdottir

  2. Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    L F Andersen

  3. Department of Human Nutrition, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    J Haraldsdottir

  4. Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    M D V de Almeida

Authors
  1. A G Kristjansdottir
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  2. L F Andersen
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  3. J Haraldsdottir
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  4. M D V de Almeida
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  5. I Thorsdottir
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to I Thorsdottir.

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Guarantor: I Thorsdottir.

Contributors: AGK worked on the statistical analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript and made the greatest contribution to this paper. LFA, JH and MDVdA participated in designing the study and project planning. LFA and JH also participated in the data analysis. IT was the local project leader and participated in all parts of the work. All investigators contributed to the writing of the final paper.

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Kristjansdottir, A., Andersen, L., Haraldsdottir, J. et al. Validity of a questionnaire to assess fruit and vegetable intake in adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 408–415 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602332

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