[Development and testing of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for Bolivian adolescents]. / Desarrollo y evaluación de un cuestionario semi-cuantitativo de frecuencias alimenticias para adolescentes bolivianos.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Since previous studies suggest that the dietary patterns and lifestyle in adolescence have an impact in health later in life, it is pertinent to monitor and document their dietary patterns. OBJECTIVE: To develop and test the reliability and validity of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for Bolivian adolescents. SETTING: La Paz, September - October 2004. METHODOLOGY: A convenience sample of 82 students from a secondary participated in the study. A semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire was applied twice with one month interval (Q1 and Q2). A 3 days dietary record (3R) was obtained from 32 of the Students as standard. RESULTS: Most of the questions (87%) reporting intake of each individual food item agreed moderately to substantially while only 2 individual food items fell into the category of slight agreement and 11 into the category of fair agreement using the kappa statistic. Quantities obtained from both applications of the questionnaire yielded similar results (P > 0.05). Nutrient estimates obtained from the Q1 and Q2 and the 3R were not statistically different (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire is apparently reliable and valid for the measurement of absolute food intake in Bolivian adolescents. Care will be taken in the future to prevent overestimation of intake measured by this particular questionnaire.