Development of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and characterization of the food pattern consumption for low - income workers in the city of Goiânia, Goiás State, Brazil

Abstract

A food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was designed to assess the average consumption frequency of food items and to characterize the food pattern among workers. A list of consumed food and usual serving sizes was compiled from previous local survey, using single 24 hours dietary recalls and frequency questionnaires. The list was composed of 127 items and the nutrient composition was calculated by the computer program DietPro version 3.0. The FFQ was administered to each subject twice in a period of six months. To characterize food pattern consumption, the most frequently mentioned foods were identified. One hundred and four (104) workers were studied, randomly selected. Items consumed at least once a day by 50% of the workers were: white bread, margarine, black coffee, white sugar, red beans and white rice. Variety of daily consumed foods was small. The top 30 foods on a daily basis ranged from less than 1.5 to 92%. This FFQ is easy to administer when studying the dietary intake of low-income populations