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Epidemiology

Development and evaluation of a short 24-h food list as part of a blended dietary assessment strategy in large-scale cohort studies

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 324–329 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

The validity of dietary assessment in large-scale cohort studies has been questioned. Combining data sources for the estimation of usual intake in a blended approach may enhance the validity of dietary measurement. Our objective was to develop a web-based 24-h food list for Germany to identify foods consumed during the previous 24 h and to evaluate the performance of the new questionnaire in a feasibility study.

Subjects/Methods:

Available data from the German National Nutrition Survey II were used to develop a finite list of food items. A total of 508 individuals were invited to fill in the 24-h food list via the Internet up to three times during a 3–6-month time period. In addition, participants were asked to evaluate the questionnaire using a brief online evaluation form.

Results:

In total, 246 food items were identified for the 24-h food list, reflecting >75% variation in intake of 27 nutrients and four major food groups. Among the individuals invited, 64% participated in the feasibility study. Of these, 100%, 85% and 68% of participants completed the 24-h food list one, two or three times, respectively. The average time needed to complete the questionnaire was 9 min, and its acceptability by participants was rated as high.

Conclusions:

The 24-h food list represents a promising new dietary assessment tool that can be used as part of a blended approach combining multiple data sources for valid estimation of usual dietary intake in large-scale cohort studies.

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Acknowledgements

This project was conducted in the context of the pretest studies of the German National Cohort (www.nationale-kohorte.de). These were funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Grant no. 01ER1001A-I, and supported by the Helmholtz Association as well as the participating universities and Institutes of the Leibniz Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Nutritional Epidemiology, University Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    J Freese & U Nöthlings

  2. Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, University Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    J Freese, G Jacobs & U Nöthlings

  3. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany

    S Feller, U Harttig & H Boeing

  4. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

    C Kleiser, J Linseisen & J Six-Merker

  5. Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    B Fischer & M F Leitzmann

  6. Institute for Prevention and Cancer Epidemiology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    J Six-Merker & K B Michels

  7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    K B Michels

  8. Molecular Epidemiology Group, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany

    K Nimptsch, A Steinbrecher & T Pischon

  9. Max Rubner-Institut, Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany

    T Heuer & I Hoffmann

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  1. J Freese
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  2. S Feller
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  13. T Heuer
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  14. I Hoffmann
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  15. G Jacobs
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  16. H Boeing
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  17. U Nöthlings
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Correspondence to J Freese.

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Freese, J., Feller, S., Harttig, U. et al. Development and evaluation of a short 24-h food list as part of a blended dietary assessment strategy in large-scale cohort studies. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 324–329 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.274

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.274

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