Using FFQs to Assess Usual Intakes: Overview
A major research priority of the NCI's Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch (RFMMB) is to monitor the dietary status of the US population so as to improve the understanding of relationships between diet and cancer risk. To fully explore these relationships, researchers need to know as accurately and completely as possible what people are eating and drinking.
Among the most frequently used methods of assessing dietary intake are the 24-hour recall and the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). These two methods have key differences:
- FFQs ask about intake over an extended period. They are relatively inexpensive to
administer and can capture the majority of a person's diet, but they are limited to foods on the instrument.
- 24-hour recalls ask people to report everything eaten and drunk during the previous 24
hours. They are rich in details regarding every item consumed (when, how, how much, with what), but they
are expensive to administer and are only a "snapshot in time." They do not reflect a person's long-term
average daily intake.
Diet-health hypotheses are based on dietary intakes over the long term, and dietary recommendations are intended to be met over time. With these facts as a starting point, staff are working to develop an improved method of assessing long-term average, or "usual" food intake that builds on the strengths of both FFQs and 24-hour recalls.
This research has the potential for advancing our methodologic work, and it also has implications for our work in food guidance and policy. Having a better sense of what people really are eating will help in formulating more targeted recommendations and evaluating the progress toward national health objectives.
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Using FFQs to Assess Usual Intakes:
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