The relative validity of a short Dutch questionnaire as a means to categorize adults and adolescents to total and saturated fat intake

Background To assess the relative validity of a short food frequency questi onnaire, the Fat list, to be used in (the evaluation of) nutrition educatio n programmes. Methods Forty-five adults and 50 adolescents (12-18 years old) completed th e Fat list at home, and subsequently kept diet records for seven subsequent days. Results Pearson correlations of about 0.7 for adults and 0.6 for adolescent s were observed between fat scores derived from the Fat list and total and saturated fat intake in grams estimated by the 7-day diet records. Correlat ions varied among subpopulations based on sex, age, education, household si ze and responsibility for cooking and shopping. Lower correlations were esp ecially found for female adolescents and older adolescents (16-18 years old ). Pearson correlations between the Fat list and percentages energy from fa t were low for both adults and adolescents. Gross misclassification, define d as disagreement between the two fat consumption assessments beyond an adj acent tertile, was less than 6% for all but the female adolescents. Conclusions The Fat list can be used in adult and male adolescent populatio ns to classify subjects in broad categories of total and saturated fat inta ke in grams and to assess differences in absolute and saturated fat intake between groups as a result of nutrition education programmes.