title: Food frequency questionnaire is a valid tool for the assessment of dietary habits of South Indian pregnant women.
abstract: The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was validated against multiple 24-hour dietary recalls (24-HDRs) and for a few blood biomarkers in 154 pregnant women at the obstetrics and gynecology department of St John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, India. Absolute nutrient intakes from the FFQ correlated positively with the average 24-HDR during pregnancy. Energy-adjusted nutrients from the FFQ in all trimesters, except proteins, carbohydrate, folate intake, and vitamin B6 in the third trimester, correlated positively with average 24-HDR. Overestimation by the FFQ compared with the 24-HDR ranged from 9% to 41%. Vitamin B12 status in the first and second trimesters positively correlated with energy-adjusted and absolute vitamin B12 intakes from the FFQ. The Bland Altman plots showed a pattern such that a trend was seen toward underreporting of intakes through the FFQ, with increasing mean intakes by the 2 methods, considering 24-HDR as the reference tool. We conclude that the FFQ is a valid tool to measure dietary intakes during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia pratibha@sjri.res.in.
authors.forename: Pratibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dwarkanath
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Mario J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Tinku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Sumathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swaminathan
authors.affiliation: St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Anura V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kurpad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires