Reliability and validity of a brief questionnaire to assess calcium intake of middle-school-aged children

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the validity and reliability of a short (10-item) calcium food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for use with middle-school-aged (11 to 14 years of age) children. DESIGN: The calcium FFQ was completed twice, with 1 week between administrations. Three 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from each participant after the second administration of the calcium FFQ. SUBJECTS/SETTING: Students in an ethnically diverse middle school in Minneapolis, MN (n=248). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Calcium intake estimates from the calcium FFQ and dietary recalls. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Correlations between calcium intake estimates from the first and second questionnaire administrations of the calcium FFQ were calculated and paired t tests were conducted to compare mean calcium intake estimates from each questionnaire administration. Mean intake estimates from the calcium FFQ and the dietary recalls were compared. Also, correlations between intake estimates from the calcium FFQ and the recalls were calculated. RESULTS: Correlation between calcium intake estimates derived from the first and second administration of the calcium FFQ was 0.74. Mean calcium intake estimates from the calcium FFQ and the average of the three dietary recalls were 856 mg/day and 993 mg/day, respectively (P<0.001). The correlation between calcium intake estimates derived from the calcium FFQ and the average of the recalls was 0.43. CONCLUSIONS: Reliability of the FFQ was found to be good while validity was weaker, with calcium intake from the calcium FFQ moderately associated with estimates from dietary recalls. Where a brief instrument for assessing calcium intake of middle-school-aged children is needed, the calcium FFQ evaluated in this study may be useful.