Resumen:
Introduction: The assessment of intake and eating habits become increasingly important to relate them to the risk of disease. In this sense, food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) are a common dietary tool used in both clinical practice and nutritional epidemiological studies. Objective: The aim of the study was the validation of a food groups frequency questionnaire (FGFQ) based on an exchange system, in relation to a 7 days food record (FR) used as reference. Methods: A total of 60 healthy adults (males and females) were recruited. To each one a dietitian applied the FGFQ to be validated and then gave instructions for completing the 7 days FR used as a reference standard. Energy and macronutrient distribution were calculated for both methods and appropriate statistical methods were applied. Results: The correlation coeffi cients comparing methods were found between r = 0.3 and r = 0.6 (p < 0.01), and the intraclass correlation coeffi cient between r = 0.2 and r = 0.6 (p < 0.01). The cross-classifi cation analysis revealed that over 80% of individuals were classifi ed into identical and contiguous quartiles from both dietary methods. Conclusions: The proposed FGFQ, based on an exchange system of 19 groups, has obtained comparable results to other similar models for assessing of energy and macronutrient distribution with a more rapid outcome.
