Development of a Food Frequency Questionnaire for Brazilian athletes

摘要

Aim: Until recently most dietary survey methods have been developed for non-athletic populations. In this study, we aimed to develop a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to assess the regular dietary intake of Brazilian athletes. Methods: We interviewed 141 athletes (23.36 ± 1.11 years old) for their dietary intake using 24-hour recalls. After grouping conceptually similar food items into 1 1 3 food items, percentage contribution analysis and stepwise regression models were used to highlight foods contributing to at least 90% of the between-person variability of key nutrients. Results: The developed FFQ contained 59 foods which were important predictors of the variance in nutrient intake. Vitamin C and pyridoxine had the lowest number of selected foods. Conversely, 1 3 food items were required to explain the between-person variation for energy, carbohydrate and magnesium intake. Conclusions: Using a multiple regression analysis we developed a 59-food item questionnaire, which includes culturally specific food items and may represent an important dietary tool to analyse athletic populations. Reproducibil-ity and validity of this FFQ will be verified in future research.