Validity and reliability of a calcium checklist in early elementary-school children.
OBJECTIVE
To create, validate and assess the reliability of a checklist to measure calcium intake in children.


METHODS
Calcium intakes from a checklist and parent-assisted 24-h dietary recall were compared. Checklist reliability was assessed separately.


METHODS
After-school programmes in the United States.


METHODS
Forty-two children (18 males, 24 females, age = 8.0 +/- 0.9 years) participated in the validation analysis and 49 children (28 males, 21 females, age = 7.5 +/- 0.9 years) in the reliability analysis.


RESULTS
No differences in mean calcium intakes were found by method or gender. The checklist correlated well with recall among girls (r = 0.65, P = 0.01) but not boys (r = -0.33, P = 0.19). Agreement over time was above 80% for most foods.


CONCLUSIONS
The calcium checklist is useful for assessing calcium intake among groups of 6-10-year-old children in settings that preclude parental assistance. More research is needed to improve accuracy among boys.
Marcotte
Lori
L
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Hennessy
Erin
E
Dwyer
Johanna
J
Hyatt
Raymond R
RR
Goldberg
Jeanne P
JP
Naumova
Elena N
EN
Economos
Christina D
CD
D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D003611:Dairy Products; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012574:Schools; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States
D002136:Calcium, Dietary