• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.484-494
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• 2002

This study was conducted to validate the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire that was developed to assess the intakes of fatty acids, as well as energy, carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals and vitamins in Korean adults. The validity of the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was tested on 78 subjects (31 men,47 women) aged 34 to 66 years. The semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire included 93 food items and was validated on two 3-day dietary records. The mean intakes and the Spearman Correlation Coefficients between the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and the two 3-day dietary records were analyzed for each nutrient and food group level. The mean nutrient intakes obtained from the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire were estimated to be greater than those of the two 3-day dietary records. The Spearman Correlation Coefficients between the energy-adjusted nutrient intakes from the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and the two 3-day dietary records ranged from 0.24 for polyunsaturated fatty acids to 0.55 for fat in men and from 0.29 for polyunsaturated fatty acids to 0.55 for saturated fatty acids in women, respectively. The Spearman Correlation Coefficients for food intake ranged from 0.11 for teas and beverages to 0.58 for grains and their products in men,-0.04 for potatoes and starches to 0.73 for milk and dairy products in women. Foods consumed regularly had lower intra-person variation and tended to have higher observed correlation coefficients. These results indicate that the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire is a useful tool for estimating nutrient intakes, particularly of total fat and saturated fatty acid intakes.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.349-365
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• 1997

Using data obtained from 1, 473 adults aged 18-68 yrs, residing in large cities and by use of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, we assessed the relative importance of various foods as indicators of both the amount and the variability of selected nutrient intake to develop a simple food frequency questionnaire. Since Cronba- ch's alpha value of the questionnaire including 78 food items was 0.76, the reliability of this questionnaire was acceptable. A large fraction of the variability of nutrient intake in this population could be explained by the small number of food items. The estimation of dietary nutrient intake such as total calories or protein content, which are derived from almost all foods, will require more food items with nutrients such as calcium or vitamin A, which are concentrated in a few food items. A dietary history ascertaining the intake of as few as 5-19 food items mighted be all needed in order to determent the associa- tion between disease outcome and the intake of a single nutrient. There was certainly a high level of agreement with nutrient intake by the sbujects who were cross-classified by quartiles of nutrient indices based on all the food items(78) and by quartiles of nutrient indices based on food items selected by stepwise multiple regression for selected nutrients. The data provided further evidence that useful information on dietary intake over an extended period can be obtained by a simple and relatively inexpensive food frequency questionnaire.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.311-318
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• 2003

The aim of this study was to assess the nutrient intakes of the elderly subjects in Korea. Dietary assessment was carried out using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQFFQ) developed by our laboratory, which included 98 commonly consumed food items selected from 1998 National Health and Nutritional Survey for Korean population. Subjects (n = 2,660) aged 50yr and over were recruited in Seoul, 6 metropolitan cities, and 8 mid-size cities. Calcium and riboflavin intakes of the elderly subjects aged 65 yr and over (n = 1,974) were much lower compared with Korean RDA. Nutrient intakes of the three age group (50-64 yr, 65-74 yr, 75 yr and over) were decreased as age increased in male and female elderly. Nutrient intakes of male elderly, 75 yr and over, were significantly decreased while in female elderly nutrient intakes were gradually decreased as age increased. Over 30% of the elderly subjects did not meet 75% RDA for calcium, iron, vitamin A, and riboflavin. The proportion of the elderly subjects whose intakes were below 75% RDA was much higher than the elderly whose intakes were above 125% RDA, especially among the elderly aged 75 yr and over. This study revealed that the Korean elderly had inadequate intakes for many nutrients. This will cause a serious nutritional problem for the elderly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.314-324
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• 2000

Evaluation of nutritional status of the elderly imposes different problem from the other age groups. It is essential to use right instrument to assess food consumption. In Korea, the food frequency questionnaire has not been applied widely to elderly people. The purpose of this study is to assess the possibility of employing a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire(FFQ) for the Korean elderly to estimate nutrient and/or food intakes. In this study the FFQ for the elderly was developed and validated. The subjects were 144 free-living old women aged from 65 to 90. The FFQ was designed with 4 items for cereals and 86 items for other foods and with frequency of 12 intervals. Three portion sizes were given to select : 1/2 of standard amount, standard amount, and 11/2 of standard amount. ach subject was interviewed with newly developed FFQ form and same subjects were also involved to complete 3-day diet record. Nutrient intake was calculated using software program developed by our group. The nutrient intakes by the FFQ was validated by comparing the results with 3-day diet record. The FFQ estimated significantly higher mean intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fats and vitamin C than did the diet reconrds(p<0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficients between two methods ranged from 0.21 for vitamin Q to 0.69 for alcohol(mean r=0.53). From 32% to 42% of the subjects were classified in the same quintile of nutrient intake by two methods, and 63% to 84% were classified in the same or adjacent quintile. On average, only 4% of the subjects were misclassified into extreme quitiles. The results indicate that the FFQ developed for the elderly in this study is useful for classifying individuals by rank and identifying groups at extremes of nutrient intakes.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.638-652
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• 2010

A valid food or dish frequency questionnaire needs to be developed in Korea for accurate dietary assessment because the dietary practices of Koreans are very different from those of other countries. This study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the newly developed, semi-quantitative, dish-based frequency questionnaire (Semi-DFQ) with 12-day dietary records (12-DRs) as a gold standard. The study subjects were 115 men and 173 women aged 30-65 years old. We calibrated the frequency, portion size and daily intake of 112 dish items reported in Semi-DFQ with those in 12-DRs by Spearman rank correlation coefficients (SCCs). The consumption frequency and portion size reported in Semi-DFQ were higher than those in 12-DRs. The SCCs for the consumption frequency of various dishes ranged from -0.07 (fried seaweed) to 0.70 (instant coffee), the portion size ranged from -0.09 (cold seaweed soup) to 0.68 (soju), and the daily intake ranged from -0.07 (fried seaweed) to 0.71 (soju). The SCCs were higher for dishes consumed daily, such as steamed rice,milk, coffee and alcohol, than those of foods eaten rarely. The overall agreements between the Semi-DFQ and 12-DRs were low for categories of consumption frequency and portion size, even though some dishes showed high SCCs. The SCCs of the two methods in consumption frequency and amount were higher among the women and younger subject. The results revealed the limitation of the Semi-DFQ for evaluating the status of usual individual intake. Therefore, the Semi-DFQ can be used in addition as dietary records and 24-hour recall depending on the research aims.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.548-558
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to develop a computer software program for nutritional assessment using a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQFFQs) and the 24-hour Recall Method. The software for the SQFFQ was divided into input, output, and database. For dietary analyses, recipe and food databases were used. The recipe database included 25 items and the food database was divided into 18 food groups. The food database was composed of 19 general nutrient items, 33 fatty acids, and 18 amino acids. The software developed in this study can be summarized as follows: 1) input items related to the individual s ages information, lifestyle, biological values, and dietary habits; 2) individualized data in percent of the Korean RDA, the energy ratios of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, the ratio of animal to plant source intakes, and the distribution of food group intakes; 3) Statistical data on the individual's information, lifestyle, biological values, and dietary intakes including the frequency of intake of cooked foods, the amounts of food, and the number of food groups, and nutrients. In the 24-hour Recall Method, the input and output consisted of the individual s information and cooked dish intakes. The individual s report included the amounts of nutrient intake according to number of meal and days, in comparison to the Korean RDA, the energy ratio for carbohydrates, proteins and fats, the ratio of animal to plant source intakes, and the distribution of food group intakes. The statistical report presented the number of food groups and foods, and the nutrient intakes. To evaluate the validity of the SQFFQ, the Spearman Rank Order Correlation and kappa values were used. As a result, correlation coefficients comparing the 24-hour Recall Method appeared to be more than 0.5, except for vitamin $B_1, B_2$, niacin, and vitamin E. The kappa values for energy and carbohydrate intakes were both 0.7, and protein, fat, vitamin C, folate, Ca, and iron intakes ranged from 0.3 to 0.7.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2002

The purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the reliability of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) intended to measure mainly nutrient intake (energy, protein, fat, calcium and iron) related to growth in pre-schoolers in Korea. Based on foods with up to 90 cumulative percent contribution of the 5 nutrients, we developed a SFFQ for 86 foods. In order to evaluate the reliability of both nutrient and food intakes, caregivers of a sample of 101 children aged 4 to 6 years completed the SFFQ repeatedly at 3 month intervals. There were small differences in the nutrient intakes assessed by the SFFQ ranging from 0.55% to 9.91%. There were no significant differences in nutrient values calculated from the repeat questionnaires, except in the case of niacin and vitamin C. The Pearson correlation coefficients of most of the nutrients ranged form 0.54 to 0.75 (mean = 0.66). When energy intake was adjusted, there was approximately a 0.2 decrease in the correlation coefficient of most nutrients, due to the high correlation of energy intake with other nutrients (r=0.7-0.9). The amount of food intake differed by 0.1 to 66.4% (mean = 17.5%), depending on the food item. Out of 86 foods, 74 foods (86%) showed less than a 30% difference in intake and 30 foods (35%) showed less than a 10% difference. Only 6 (7%) out of the 86 foods presented statistically significant differences in intake. The Spearman correlation coefficients of most food intakes assessed repeatedly by the SFFQ ranged from 0.4 to 0.7. Reproducibility of the nutrient and food intakes found in this study was better or similar to those found in cases of Korean adults. Therefore, the SFFQ developed in the present study can be a useful tool to assess the dietary intake of pre-schoolers in Korea.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.747-761
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In Korea, studies of diet in elementary school children are hindered by the need for a comprehensive dietary assessment tool. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for Korean elementary school children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The 24-h recall data for 1,624 subjects aged 6-11 yrs from the seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used to extract the items included in the questionnaire. The FFQ items were developed by selecting major dishes based on the results of nutritional contribution and between-person variability for energy and 14 nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat, crude fiber, calcium, phosphorous, iron, sodium, potassium, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C). We selected the major dishes with over 90% of the total contribution to each nutrient and with over 90% of the accumulated R² for each nutrient. Among the 452 dishes, we selected 248 dishes contributing more than 1% of the total consumption. RESULTS: Finally, the FFQ included 107 items combined from 248 dishes based on nutrient profile and recipe. The FFQ items accounted for an average of 88.6% of the energy, 14 nutrient intakes, and 91.4% of the between-person variability. Quantities of dietary intake were assessed by 9 categories of frequency and 3 categories of portion size. Percentages of coverage for energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and calcium were 90.2%, 87.8%, 89.9%, 90.8%, and 88.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a dish-based, semi-quantitative FFQ comprising 107 items for Korean elementary school children aged 6 to 11. Further studies are needed to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of this FFQ for elementary school children.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.426-440
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• 2017

Objectives: The valid assessment of food and nutrients intakes using appropriate dietary intake method is necessary to improve the nutritional status of the hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study was conducted to compare the method between newly developed, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (Semi-FFQ) and 7-day dietary records (7-DRs) for hemodialysis patients. Methods: We conducted both methods on 53 maintenance HD patients in two university hospitals. We calibrated the frequency, portion size and daily intake of 47 food items reported in Semi-FFQ. The food and nutrients intake was compared and the correlation of the two methods was analyzed. Also each nutrient intake was compared to recommended dietary allowance for Korean (KDRIs) and recommended nutrient reference value for HD patients. Results: Energy and energy-yielding nutrients intakes were significantly higher in the two methods (p<0.01). These support the possible reliability between Semi-FFQ and 7-DRs that is similar with regard to most mineral and vitamin intakes. Thus, the Semi-FFQ used in this study for the assessment of nutrient intakes of HD patients can be reliable for the assessment of the nutrient intake along with the 7-DRs. The correlation coefficients were higher for foods consumed daily, such as steamed rice, meat and chicken, bean, egg, milk, coffee and alcohol than for those of foods eaten rarely (p<0.01). Conclusions: The Semi-FFQ used in this study can be a reliable tool for the assessment of the HD patients' nutrient intake along with the 7-DRs, despite its limitations.

• Proceedings of the KSCN Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.102-102
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• 1998