title: Validity of a food frequency questionnaire to estimate long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake among Japanese women in early and late pregnancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relative validity of food frequency questionnaires for estimating long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) intake among pregnant Japanese women is currently unclear. The aim of this study was to verify the external validity of a food frequency questionnaire, originally developed for non-pregnant adults, to assess the dietary intake of LC-PUFA using dietary records and serum phospholipid levels among Japanese women in early and late pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A validation study involving 188 participants in early pregnancy and 169 participants in late pregnancy was conducted. Intake LC-PUFA was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire and evaluated using a 3-day dietary record and serum phospholipid concentrations in both early and late pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The food frequency questionnaire provided estimates of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake with higher precision than dietary records in both early and late pregnancy. Significant correlations were observed for LC-PUFA intake estimated using dietary records in both early and late pregnancy, particularly for EPA and DHA (correlation coefficients ranged from 0.34 to 0.40, p < 0.0001). Similarly, high correlations for EPA and DHA in serum phospholipid composition were also observed in both early and late pregnancy (correlation coefficients ranged 0.27 to 0.34, p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the food frequency questionnaire, which was originally designed for non-pregnant adults and was evaluated in this study against dietary records and biological markers, has good validity for assessing LC-PUFA intake, especially EPA and DHA intake, among Japanese women in early and late pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Otsuma Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Minatsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Center of Maternal-Fetal, Neonatal and Reproductive Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Seung Chik
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Jwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Center of Maternal-Fetal, Neonatal and Reproductive Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naho
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morisaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Global Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: fujiwara.hlth@tmd.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011247:Pregnancy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid
keywords: Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; Pregnant women; Validation