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Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire to assess methyl-group donor intake in preschoolers

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Abstract

A good assessment of dietary methyl-group donor intake (folate, choline, betaine, methionine) is needed to investigate the effect of methyl-group donor intake on children’s health. The aim is to develop and validate a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to estimate the daily intake of methyl-group donors in preschoolers. For the relative validity and reproducibility of the FFQ, a 7-day estimated dietary record (7d EDR) and repeated measurements 6 weeks apart (n = 77) were used respectively. For the validity (n = 75), a moderate ranking ability was obtained (de-attenuated Pearson correlation = 0.43–0.70; weighted ƙ 0.10–0.40), but the FFQ tends to overestimate the real intake. Cross-classification analysis showed that 38% (choline) and 28% (betaine) of the subjects were misclassified. The FFQ shows a moderate to good reproducibility, intra-class correlation coefficients range between 0.67 (betaine) and 0.76 (choline) with a maximal misclassification of 6.5% for betaine (weighted ƙ 0.37–0.69) (n = 77).

Conclusion: The FFQ is a tool with a moderate validity and reproducibility to estimate the consumption of dietary methyl-group donors in preschoolers. This tool might be used in future research epidemiological studies including preschoolers.

What is Known:

• Poor dietary habits during childhood have been associated with chronic disease in adulthood.

• Methyl-group donors are important for DNA methylation, which is the underlying mechanism of disease development.

What is New:

• For the first time, a food-frequency questionnaire that can assess the intake of methione, folate, choline, and betaine has been developed and validated for the use in preschoolers.

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All relevant data are included in this manuscript.

Abbreviations

FFQ:

Food-frequency questionnaire

7d-EDR:

7-Day estimated dietary record

MANOE:

Maternal Nutrition and Offspring’s Epigenome

ICF:

Informed consent form

BLS:

The German Food Code and Nutrient Data Base

USDA:

United States Department of Agriculture Food Composition Database

Kw:

Weighted kappa

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the parents, children and schools who volunteered to take part in this study.

Funding

This research was funded by a Post-Doctoral grant (grant number 12W8618N) from The Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO). Sara Pauwels is the beneficiary of a post-doctoral fellowship (12W8618N; http://www.fwo.be/) provided by The Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) and the Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO). Manosij Ghosh has also been granted a FWO post-doctoral fellowship (12W7718N). Roland Devlieger is holder of a Fundamental Clinical Investigatorship of FWO Flanders.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment and Health, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35, Blok D, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Sarah Hoeylaerts, Annelies Van Opstal, Roland Devlieger, Lode Godderis & Sara Pauwels

  2. International Agency for Research On Cancer, Lyon, France

    Inge Huybrechts

  3. Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium

    Gudrun Koppen & Sara Pauwels

  4. University Hospitals of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Roland Devlieger

  5. External Service for Prevention and Protection at Work, IDEWE, Heverlee, Belgium

    Lode Godderis

Authors
  1. Sarah Hoeylaerts
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  2. Annelies Van Opstal
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  3. Inge Huybrechts
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  4. Gudrun Koppen
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  7. Sara Pauwels
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Contributions

SH and AVO recruited participants, analyzed data, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. IH decided on the methodology of the study and revised the manuscript. GK, RDV, and LG conceptualized and designed the study and revised the manuscript. SP is responsible for the project administration and supervision, data analysis and writing of the final draft. All the authors approved the submitted version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Pauwels.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Research Ethics Committee UZ/KU Leuven (MP006844) approved this study and was performed following the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was received from all parents of the participants.

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Not applicable.

Conflict of interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Communicated by Gregorio Paolo Milani

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Hoeylaerts, S., Van Opstal, A., Huybrechts, I. et al. Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire to assess methyl-group donor intake in preschoolers. Eur J Pediatr 181, 1871–1881 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-021-04367-7

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