FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FOOD FREQUENCIES BY 4TH AND 5TH GRADE STUDENTS - VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

Objective: Due to the increased emphasis on fruit and vegetable (F+V) consumption and a desire to use the simplest dietary assessment method appropriate to determine F+V intake, we assessed the reliability and validity of weekly and monthly fruit and vegetable food frequency ques tionnaires (F+V FFQ) among fourth and fifth grade students by comparin g them to food records previously validated through school lunch obser vations. Methods: The multiethnic sample (primarily African-American a nd Caucasian) included predominantly lower-middle socioeconomic studen ts from 10 classes at one elementary school. F+V FFQ were printed on o ptical scanning forms and classroom administered on two occasions. Stu dents completed preprinted food record forms at school and received ne w forms weekly. To allow comparison between the F+V FFQ and food recor ds, a dietitian abstracted information from the records according to a written protocol and transferred it to F+V FFQ forms covering respect ive time periods. F+V FFQ were converted to estimated daily servings a nd aggregated to create five F+V indices plus three summary indices. S tatistical analyses included Spearman correlations and paired t-tests. Results: Students demonstrated acceptable reliability in completing f ood records as well as weekly and monthly F+V FFQ; however, validity w as unacceptable for both F+V FFQ versions due to significant overrepor ting. Conclusion: Of the two methods studied, the food record procedur e is preferred over the FFQ procedure for collecting self-reported F+V consumption data among fourth and fifth grade students.