Application and Evaluation of Web-based Food Frequency Questionnaire for Korean Adolescents

Article information

Korean J Community Nutr. 2016;21(5):440-450

Publication date (electronic) : 2016 October 31

doi : https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2016.21.5.440

Department of Food and Nutrition, Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Seungmin Lee. Department of Food and Nutrition, Sungshin Women’s University, 55, Dobong-ro 76 ga-gil, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul 01133, Korea. Tel: (02) 920-7671, Fax: (02) 920-2076, smlee@sungshin.ac.kr

Received 2016 October 13; Revised 2016 October 27; Accepted 2016 October 27.

Abstract

Objectives

We previously developed a dish-based semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for Korean adolescents and reported that it had reasonable reliability and validity. The objective of the current study was to construct a web-based dietary evaluation system applying the FFQ for Korean adolescents and examine its applicability in the context of reliability and validity.

Methods

A web-based food frequency questionnaire system was designed using a comprehensive approach, incorporating not only dietary data survey but also up-to-date nutrition information and individualized eating behavior guidelines. A convenience sample of 50 boys and girls aged 12~18 years agreed to participate in the study and completed the FFQ twice and 3 days of dietary recall on the developed website during a two-month period. The FFQ’s reliability and validity was examined using correlation and cross classification analysis. We also measured participants’ subjective levels of the web site’s usability, visual effect, understanding, and familiarity.

Results

Spearman correlation coefficients for reliability ranged from 0.74 (for vitamin A) to 0.94 (for energy). From cross-classification analyses, the proportion of subjects in the same intake quartile was highest for energy (82.0%) and lowest for vitamin A (56.0%). With regard to validity analysis, Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.34 (for fiber) to 0.79 (for energy). The proportions of subjects in the opposite categories between the first FFQ and 3-day diet recall data were generally low from 0.00% (for fat) to 36.2% (for sodium). Average subjective levels of the website’s usability, visual effect, understanding, and familiarity were all found to be over 4 points out of 5 points.

Conclusions

The web-based dietary evaluation system developed can serve as a valid and attractive tool for administering FFQ to Korean adolescents.

Keywords: web-based; FFQ; adolescent; reliability; validity

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), grant funded by Korea government (MEST) (No. 2010-0002825).

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Article information Continued

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funded by : National Research Foundation of Koreahttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003725

Award ID : 2010-0002825

Fig. 3

Page for food frequency questionnaire and food record data entry

Fig. 4

Page for nutrition information & message board

Fig. 5

Page for dietary evaluation result

Fig. 6

Average subjective levels website's understanding, familiarity, usability visual effect and total (N=50)

Table 1

Spearman Correlation coefficients for reliability between FFQ 1 and FFQ 2 (N=50)

^*: p<0.05, ^**: p<0.01, ^***: p<0.001

Table 2

Agreement proportions in quartile distributions for reliability between FFQ 1 and FFQ 2 (N=50)

1) Percentage of subjects in the same quartile of nutrient intakes from FFQ1 and FFQ2

2) Percentage of subjects in the same or adjacent quartiles of nutrient intakes from FFQ1 and FFQ2

3) Opposite (lowest/highest) quartiles

4) Weighted kappa

Table 3

Spearman Correlation coefficients for validity between FFQ 1 and 3-days food records (N=50)