| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2018 | Volume
: 8
| Issue : 3 | Page : 86-91 |
|
|
Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire for pregnant women of Tamil Nadu, India
Rajarajeswari Kuppuswamy1, Vidhya Venugopal1, Aruna Subramaniam2
1 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (Deemed to be University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Faculty of Nursing, Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre and Research Institute (Deemed to be University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Correspondence Address:
Rajarajeswari Kuppuswamy
Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (Deemed to be University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijnpnd.ijnpnd_27_18
|
|
|
Background: Food and diet pattern vary across different regions and different communities and so a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has to be developed for a specific population. Objective: The objective of the study was to develop and to validate a FFQ for pregnant women of Tamil Nadu. Methods: Twenty four hour recalls (HRs) were collected from 200 pregnant women of select districts of Tamil Nadu. A detailed food list was prepared with the data from 24 h diet recalls and after a supplemental focus group discussion. A comprehensive FFQ was developed and it was piloted on 20 women to check its feasibility. The FFQ had 114 items which were divided into seven groups. FFQ validation was conducted on 109 pregnant women using two 24 HRs as the standard measure. Results: FFQ that was developed had the most commonly consumed food items of the region. The intake of nutrients calculated from FFQ when compared with 24 HRs was higher. A significant correlation was found for intake of nutrients. Pearson correlation coefficient between the two methods ranged from 0.3 to 0.9. Conclusion: The FFQ thus developed and validated is a useful tool in estimating the nutrient intake of pregnant women and its results are broadly comparable with other studies conducted in South India which indicates that it can be used for the future studies of nutritional assessments of pregnant women. |
|
|
|
| [FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
