Development and validation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess nutritional status in Korean adults

This study was performed to evaluate the validity of the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), which is being used at the Samsung Medical Center. In total, 305 (190 males and 115 females) participants consented and completed the 3-day diet records and FFQ. Age, gender and energy-adjusted and de-attenuated correlations ranged from 0.317 (polyunsaturated fatty acid) to 0.748 (carbohydrate) with a median value of 0.550. The weighted kappa value ranged from 0.18 (vitamin A) to 0.57 (carbohydrate) with a median value of 0.36. More than 75% of the subjects were classified into the same or adjacent quartiles. The FFQ had reasonably good validity compared with that of another study. Therefore, our FFQ is considered a proper method to assess nutrient intake in healthy Korean adults.