J Nutr Health.  2021 Feb;54(1):76-94. 10.4163/jnh.2021.54.1.76.

Development and evaluation of semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for marriage migrant women in multicultural families

• Kim JH
• Kim OY
• Lee MJ
• Park E

• KMID: 2513474
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2021.54.1.76

Abstract

Purpose
This study was implemented to develop and validate a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ) to assess the dietary intake of married migrant women in multicultural families.
Methods
The SQ-FFQ consisting of 41 food items was selected based on the information of frequently consumed foods from the preliminary studies on dietary intake survey for married migrant women or a Korean Health and Nutrition Examination survey. Thirty-five subjects who visited the Multicultural Family Support Center in Seoul and Daejeon area completed their three-day diet records and SQ-FFQ 2 times. The reproducibility and relative validity of SQ-FFQ were assessed by comparing the 1st and 2nd SQ-FFQ and by comparison with the three-day diet records, respectively.
Results
The reliability of SQ-FFQ, which was examined 1–2 weeks apart, showed no significant difference in the energy and macronutrient intake (carbohydrate, fat, protein), while the average intakes of vitamin A, riboflavin, calcium, and potassium were slightly higher in the 2nd than 1st SQ-FFQ. All correlation coefficients for the reliability for nutrients were statistically significant, ranging from 0.453 to 0.885. The mean intakes of energy, carbohydrate, vitamin C, thiamin, folate, vitamin B ₁₂ , calcium, and sodium obtained from the SQ-FFQ were greater than those of the 3-day dietary records. The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the 2 methods was the highest for plant fat (r = 0.602; p < 0.001) and relatively higher for energy, carbohydrate, fat, and thiamin ranging from 0.512 to 0.599; and protein, riboflavin, niacin, folate ranging from 0.335 to 0.499, while no significant correlation was observed for vitamin A, C, calcium, iron, and sodium.
Conclusion
The developed SQ-FFQ for married migrant women in multicultural families in this study appears to be useful for estimating the nutritional status, particularly energy, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamin B group.

Keyword

marriage immigrant women; multicultural families; semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ); diet records; validation