The National Cancer Institute Diet History Questionnaire: Validation of Pyramid Food Servings

Abstract

The performance of the National Cancer Institute's food frequency questionnaire, the Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ), in estimating servings of 30 US Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid food groups was evaluated in the Eating at America's Table Study (1997–1998), a nationally representative sample of men and women aged 20–79 years. Participants who completed four nonconsecutive, telephone-administered 24-hour dietary recalls (n = 1,301) were mailed a DHQ; 965 respondents completed both the 24-hour dietary recalls and the DHQ. The US Department of Agriculture's Pyramid Servings Database was used to estimate intakes of pyramid servings for both diet assessment tools. The correlation (ρ) between DHQ-reported intake and true intake and the attenuation factor (λ) were estimated using a measurement error model with repeat 24-hour dietary recalls as the reference instrument. Correlations for energy-adjusted pyramid servings of foods ranged from 0.43 (other starchy vegetables) to 0.84 (milk) among women and from 0.42 (eggs) to 0.80 (total dairy food) among men. The mean ρ and λ after energy adjustment were 0.62 and 0.60 for women and 0.63 and 0.66 for men, respectively. This food frequency questionnaire validation study of foods measured in pyramid servings allowed for a measure of food intake consistent with national dietary guidance.