Culture-specific food frequency questionnaires: Development for use in a cardiovascular study.
The object of this work was to develop self-administered, culture-specific food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) for use in a prevalence study of cardiovascular disease. The cultures included the general Canadian population, south Asian Canadians and Chinese Canadians and the FFQs were based on the structure of our previously reported FFQ used in the Canadian Diet, Lifestyle, and Health Study. Food record data for each of the culture groups were available from previous studies. A database was used to identify food items and serving sizes to be included in each questionnaire. The foods contributing most of the 19 food components of the general Canadian sample were calculated. This article describes the methodology for the initial development of the FFQs and discusses the initial evaluation of the general Canadian questionnaire. Validation of all three questionnaires against seven-day food records is in progress.
Jain
MEERA
M
Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.