Vegetable and fruit food frequency questionnaire serves as a proxy for quantified intake

BACKGROUND: Public health practitioners need valid tools to survey trends in dietary intake. The Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance System (RRFSS) includes an optional six-item vegetable and fruit intake food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) module. Our objectives were 1) to compare reported vegetable and fruit consumption from the FFQ to quantified servings (portions) defined by Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating and ascertained by a reference method, and 2) to compare the FFQ with the reference method for their classification of the proportion of respondents consuming five or more servings of vegetables and fruit per day. METHODS: Dietitians administered 24-hour recalls to each of 174 adult respondents who had completed the FFQ as part of the RRFSS. Recalls were conducted over the telephone on three separate occasions using an adaptation of the multiple pass method. RESULTS: The mean total intake of vegetables and fruit for the group was 4.6 times/day from the FFQ versus 4.8 servings/day from the recalls (paired t-test; p = 0.92). Thirty-seven percent of respondents were classified as consuming five or more times/day by the FFQ versus 35% by the 24-hour recall servings. CONCLUSION: The FFQ tool can be used as a proxy for quantified intake of vegetable and fruit consumption.