Using a short food frequency questionnaire to estimate dietary calcium consumption: A tool for patient education

Objective. To develop a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) assessing calcium intake and a prediction equation for estimating total calcium intak e from the short FFQ. Methods. Data were collected from 536 women via mailed questionnaires at 3 time points. Stepwise regression analyses were used to identify those foods and beverages included in the Block Health Habits and History Questionnair e (HHHQ) that explained the most variance in participants' dietary calcium intake. A prediction equation was developed to estimate total calcium intak e based only on information from the foods/beverages identified. Results. Calcium obtained from Is foods/beverages explained 97.2% of the va riance in total calcium intake. The mean absolute difference between total calcium intake estimated from the 15 foods/beverages and the full HHHQ was less than 50 mg at each time point. Conclusion. Findings suggest theft a short FFQ carl provide estimates of to tal dietary calcium consumption comparable to the full Block HHHQ.