Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire for Japanese athletes (FFQJA)

Abstract

Background

Food frequency questionnaires are considered an effective method for assessing habitual dietary intake, but they must be developed or validated with the target population. Portion size, supplement use and food choice are thought to be especially important methodological considerations for assessing athletes’ dietary intake. This study aimed to develop and validate a food frequency questionnaire for Japanese athletes using data from this population.

Methods

We used dietary records from 440 Japanese athletes involved in our previous projects. Food items were analyzed using cumulative percentage contributions and multiple regression analysis, to give a selection of 62 basic food items and four supplemental items. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated among another 77 Japanese athletes by comparing nutrient intakes assessed using the questionnaire with dietary records. Reproducibility was evaluated by comparing a second questionnaire completed 2–3 weeks later by 36 of the athletes in the validation study. Validity was assessed using crude Spearman’s correlation coefficients (CCs), energy-adjusted CCs, intraclass CCs (ICCs), and Kappa index values. Reproducibility was assessed by CCs, energy-adjusted CCs, and ICCs.

Results

In the validation analysis, the median crude CC for all of the nutrients was 0.407, ranging from 0.222 for dietary fiber to 0.550 for carbohydrate. The median energy-adjusted CC was 0.478, and the median ICC was 0.369. When we divided the athletes into quartiles, 65% (vitamin B₁) to 86% (iron) of athletes were classified into the same or adjacent categories using the questionnaire and dietary records, with a median Kappa statistic of 0.32. In the reproducibility analysis, the median crude CC between the two completed questionnaires was 0.654, ranging from 0.582 (carbohydrate) to 0.743 (vitamin B₂). The median energy-adjusted CC was 0.643, and the median ICC was 0.647.

Conclusions

The new 62-item food frequency questionnaire is both reliable and valid and may be useful for assessing food intake in Japanese athletes.

Keywords:

• Nutritional assessment
• Active person
• Meal
• Dietary record
• Food group

Acknowledgements

We thank Benjamin Knight, MSc., and Melissa Leffler, MBA, from Edanz Group (https://en-author-services.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Authors’ contributions

KIT designed the study, supervised the data collection, analyzed the data, wrote the majority of the manuscript, and oversaw the manuscript preparation. KO designed the study, collected the data, calculated nutrient intakes, analyzed the data, and assisted with the manuscript preparation. MT designed the study, supervised data collection, and assisted with the manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This study was partly supported by Top Business Systems, Ltd., Japan.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during this study are not publicly available because our ethical approval did not include the use of these data by other researchers. The final version of the FFQJA is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the ethics committee of Waseda University (No. 2015–320, 22nd Jan 2015). All participants and/or guardians (for athletes younger than 20 years old) were fully informed about all aspects of the study and provided informed consent upon entering the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. All researchers involved independently collected, analyzed, and interpreted the results from this study. The funding source (Top Business Systems, Ltd., Japan) had no input into the research design, data collection, interpretation, or write-up.

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