Validation and reproducibility of dietary assessment methods in adolescents: a systematic literature review. Issue 12 (18th November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tabacchi, Garden; Amodio, Emanuele; Di Pasquale, Maria; Bianco, Antonino; Jemni, Monèm; Mammina, Caterina
• Is Part Of: Public health nutrition. Volume 17:Issue 12(2014)
• Page Start: 2700
• Page End: 2714
• Publication Date: 2013-11-18
• Subjects: Nutrition -- Periodicals; Nutrition policy -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980013003157
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-9800

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="abs1" sec-type="general"> <title>Objective</title> <p>The aim of the present work was to determine what dietary assessment method can provide a valid and accurate estimate of nutrient intake by comparison with the gold standard.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs2" sec-type="general"> <title>Design</title> <p>A MEDLINE, EMBASE, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane and related references literature review was conducted on dietary assessment methods for adolescents reporting the validity and/or reproducibility values. A study quality assessment on the retrieved FFQ was carried out according to two different scoring systems, judging respectively the quality of FFQ nutrition information and of FFQ validation and calibration.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs3" sec-type="general"> <title>Setting</title> <p>The present review considered adolescents attending high schools and recruited in hospitals or at home.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs4" sec-type="subjects"> <title>Subjects</title> <p>The target of the review was the healthy adolescent population in the age range 13–17 years.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs5" sec-type="results"> <title>Results</title> <p>Thirty-two eligible papers were included and analysed separately as 'original articles' (<italic>n</italic> 20) and 'reviews' (<italic>n</italic> 12). The majority (<italic>n</italic> 17) assessed the validation and reproducibility of FFQ. Almost all studies found the questionnaires to be valid and reproducible (<italic>r</italic> > 0·4), except for some food groups and nutrients. Different design and validation issues were highlighted, such as portion-size estimation, number of food items and statistics used.</p> </sec> <sec id="abs6" sec-type="conclusion"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>The present review offers new insights in relation to the characteristics of assessment methods for dietary intake in adolescents. Further meta-analysis is required although the current review provides important indications on the development of a new FFQ, addressing the need for a valid, reproducible, user-friendly, cost-effective method of accurately assessing nutrient intakes in adolescents.</p> </sec> </abstract>