title: Design of a digital and self-reported food frequency questionnaire to estimate food consumption in adolescents and young adults: birth cohorts at Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Methodological paper aiming to describe the development of a digital and self-reported food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), created to the 1982 and 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohorts.
  
  
  METHODS
  The instrument was created based on FFQs previously applied to subjects belonging to both cohorts in the 2004 and 2008 follow-ups. The FFQ was developed including 88 foods and/or meals where frequencies were clustered from a minimum of never or once/month to a maximum of greater than or equal to 5 times/day. The closed options related to portions were based on a 24-hour recall previously asked to a subsample from the 1993 cohort. Three options for portions were created: equal to, less than or greater than. Equal to portion was described based on the 50 percentile of each food consumed reported in a 24-hour recall. Photographs of portions related to the 50 percentile for each food were also included in the software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This digital FFQ included food and meals based on the needs of current researches. The layout of the software was attractive to the staff members as well as to the cohort members. The responding time was 12 minutes and the software allowed several individuals to use it at the same time. Moreover, this instrument dismissed interviewers and double data entry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is recommended the use of the same strategy in other studies, adapted to different contexts and situations.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Bruna Celestino
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde e Comportamento, Universidade Católica de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Janaína Vieira Dos Santos
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Ludmila Correa
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Muniz
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Renata Moraes
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bielemann
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Samanta Winck
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Madruga
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Silvana Paiva
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Orlandi
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.|Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Denise Petrucci
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Gigante
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.|Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas - Pelotas (RS), Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Cecília Formoso
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Assunção
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004435:Eating; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D057566:Self Report; D012984:Software; D055815:Young Adult