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Validation of a Novel Method for Retrospectively Estimating Nutrient Intake During Pregnancy Using a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire

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Abstract

Case control studies evaluating the relationship between dietary intake of specific nutrients and risk of congenital, neonatal or early childhood disease require the ability to rank relative maternal dietary intake during pregnancy. Such studies are limited by the lack of validated instruments for assessing gestational dietary intake several years post-partum. This study aims to validate a semi-quantitative interview-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for retrospectively estimating nutrient intake at two critical time points during pregnancy. The FFQ was administered to women (N = 84), who 4–6 years earlier had participated in a prospective study to evaluate dietary intake during pregnancy. The FFQ queried participants about intake during the previous month (FFQ-month). This was then used as a reference point to estimate consumption by trimester (FFQ-pregnancy). The resulting data were compared to data collected during the original study from two 24-h recalls (24 h-original) using Spearman correlation and Wilcoxon sign-rank-test. Total energy intake as estimated by the retrospective and original instruments did not differ and was only weakly correlated in the trimesters (1st and 3rd) as a whole (r = 0.18–32), though more strongly correlated when restricted to the first half of the 1st trimester (r = 0.32) and later half of the 3rd trimester (r = 0.87). After energy adjustment, correlation between the 24hR-original and FFQ-pregnancy in the 3rd trimester were r = 0.25 (P < 0.05) for dietary intake of vitamin A, and r = 0.26 (P < 0.05) for folate, and r = 0.23–0.77 (P < 0.005) for folate, and vitamins A, B6 and B12 in the 1st and 3rd trimester after including vitamin supplement intake. The FFQ-pregnancy provides a consistent estimate of maternal intake of key micronutrients during pregnancy and permits accurate ranking of intake 4–6 years post-partum.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by NCI grant CA98180 (MAO) and support from ES009089 (MAO). The original RCT was founded by the Thrasher Research Fund, UNICEF, CONACyT Mexico, the Department of International Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University and the Mexican National Institute of Public Health. We are grateful to Dr. Usha Ramakrishnan principal investigator of the RCT for allowing us to use the data for this validation. The authors also thank Ida Suen and Silvia Diaz for assistance with manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP), Av. Universidad 655, Santa María Ahuacatitlán Cerrada, Los Pinos y Caminera, 62508, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Fabiola Mejía-Rodríguez, Armando García-Guerra & Amado David Quezada-Sanchez

  2. Department of Pediatrics (Oncology), and in Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Manuela A. Orjuela

  3. Micronutrient Initiative, Ottawa, Canada

    Lynnette M. Neufeld

Authors
  1. Fabiola Mejía-Rodríguez
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  2. Manuela A. Orjuela
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  3. Armando García-Guerra
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  4. Amado David Quezada-Sanchez
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  5. Lynnette M. Neufeld
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Correspondence to Fabiola Mejía-Rodríguez.

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Mejía-Rodríguez, F., Orjuela, M.A., García-Guerra, A. et al. Validation of a Novel Method for Retrospectively Estimating Nutrient Intake During Pregnancy Using a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire. Matern Child Health J 16, 1468–1483 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0912-8

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