Journal List > Korean J Health Promot > v.18(2) > 1098274

Kang, Lee, Shim, and Paik: Gender Analysis of Food Items Selection for Food Frequency Questionnaire Development

Abstract

Background

The aims of this study were 1) to compare foods between men and women with high contributions to absolute intake and the variability in energy and nutrient intakes, which are common criteria of selecting foods for food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), 2) to analyze possible inaccuracies due to not taking gender into consideration.

Methods

The study used 1-day 24 hour recall data of 7,952 participants (n=3,250 men, n=4,702 women) aged 19–64 years who participated in the 2013–2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Foods which have high possibility of being included in FFQ items, called candidate foods, were selected by analyzing their contribution to absolute intake and variability in the intakes of energy and 15 nutrients in total participants, men and women.

Results

The number of candidate foods selected was 133 for total participants, 126 for men, and 153 for women. Intakes of candidate foods for total participants were significantly higher in energy and six nutrients out of selected 16 nutrients than those of candidate foods for men only. On the contrary, all nutrient intakes of candidate foods for total participants were significantly lower than those of candidate foods for women only.

Conclusions

Differences were revealed between men and women not only in the total numbers, but also in the selected food items from the candidate foods for FFQ. Thus, developing FFQs without considering gender may produce systematic errors in dietary assessment, possibly in different directions for men and women.

References

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Figure 1.
Selection of candidate foods for the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).a
kjhp-18-98f1.tif
Figure 2.
Ratios of energy and nutrient intakes for the selected candidate foods.a-c
kjhp-18-98f2.tif
Table 1.
Descriptions of 6th (2013–2014) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey whose dietary intake data were included in the present study
Characteristic Total (n=7,952) Men (n=3,250) Women (n=4,702) Pa
Age, y 43.4±12.4 43.3±12.5 43.5±12.3 0.3736
Age group        
   19–29 years 1,237 (15.6) 523 (16.1) 714 (15.2) 0.4030
   30–49 years 3,830 (48.2) 1,571 (48.3) 2,259 (48.0)  
   50–64 years 2,885 (36.3) 1,156 (35.6) 1,729 (36.8)  
Residential areab        
   Rural 1,385 (17.4) 616 (19.0) 769 (16.4) 0.0005
   City 2,980 (37.5) 1,244 (38.3) 1,736 (36.9)  
   Metropolitan 3,587 (45.1) 1,390 (42.8) 2,197 (46.7)  
Household income, monthly, won
   ≤2,000,000 1,939 (24.5) 717 (22.2) 1,222 (26.1) 0.0009
   2,000,000–3,500,000 2,227 (28.1) 944 (29.2) 1,283 (27.4)  
   3,500,000–5,000,000 1,762 (22.3) 733 (22.6) 1,029 (22.0)  
   >5,000,000 1,988 (25.1) 843 (26.0) 1,145 (24.5)  
Education
   Middle school or less 1,445 (21.1) 461 (17.2) 984 (23.6) <0.0001
   High school 2,722 (39.7) 1,081 (40.2) 1,641 (39.4)  
   College or more 2,685 (39.2) 1,144 (42.6) 1,541 (37.0)  

Values are mean±standard deviation or number (%).

a Differences between men and women were analyzed by t-test for continuous variable and by χ2 test for categorical variables.

b Residential area was categorized as rural area (Eup-Myeon area of the administrative district in Korea), city (Dong area in non-metropolitan cities, such as Gyeonggi-do), and metropolitan area (Dong area in metropolitan cities such as Seoul).

Table 2.
Number of candidate foods selected among total participants, men, and women in the 2013–2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveya
Group Total participants (n=7,952) Men (n=3,250) Women (n=4,702)
Cooked rice 13 11 14
Breads and baked products 7 9 11
Noodles and dumplings 9 7 11
Porridges 1 1 2
Soups 4 4 6
Stews 6 6 7
Steamed food 3 3 3
Grilled food 10 10 10
Pan-fried food 3 3 3
Stir-fried food 5 6 8
Braised food 4 3 2
Fried food 4 4 4
Cooked and seasoned vegetables 4 4 5
Seasoned fresh vegetables of other food 4 5 4
Kimchi 5 5 8
Pickled or preserved food 4 3 4
Seasoning 4 7 3
Milk and milk products 5 4 5
Beverages and tea 10 8 12
Alcoholic beverages 3 3 2
Fruits 11 11 11
Grain, starch and grain products 7 2 9
Legumes, nuts, and seeds 3 2 4
Vegetables and seaweeds 3 3 3
Meat, poultry, and fish 1 2 2
Total 133 126 153

a Candidate foods: foods which have high possibility of being included in food frequency questionnaire items, which were identified as foods with high contribution to total energy and major nutrient intakes as well as foods of major sources of between-person variation in energy and nutrient intakes.

Table 3.
Energy and nutrient intakes from the selected candidate foodsab
Nutrient Men (n=3,249) Women (n=4,699)
From candidate foods of total participantsc From candidate foods of mend From candidate foods of total participantse From candidate foods of womenf
Macro nutrients        
   Energy, kcal 1934.4±929.9 1915.6±921.6g 1343.5±649.7 1399.4±660.4g
   Protein, g 59.4±40.7 59.4±41.3 42.3±27.6 44.2±28.1g
   Fat, g 39.2±37.3 38.8±36.8h 28.0±26.9 29.8±27.5g
   Saturated fatty acid, g 12.2±12.7 12.0±12.4 g 8.6±9.4 9.1±9.6g g
   Polyunsaturated fatty acid, g g 9.2±9.3 9.0±9.1g g 6.8±7.4 7.1±7.4g g
   Carbohydrate, g 284.7±124.7 280.6±122.3g 219.8±105.6 228.4±107.2g
Minerals   g   g
   Calcium, mg 392.7±276.7 389.3±275.1g 322.4±253.1 332.4±247.4g
   Phosphorous, mg 918.7±499.6 917.8±503.1 703.8±426 730.0±429.8g
   Iron, mg 14.1±63.5 13.7±63.5g 10.0±6.6 11.0±7.1g
   Sodium, mg 3240.2±2757.3 3303.2±2742.2g 2187.6±1915 2329.4±1950.5g
   Potassium, mg 2520.1±1421.7 2521.3±1405.3 2120.2±1360.4 2186.7±1380.1g
Vitamins        
   Vitamin A, μgRE 550.2±642.2 526.1±598.2g 457.8±565.8 479.2±579.2g
   Thiamin, mg Riboflavin, mg 1.9±1.1 1.2±0.8 1.9±1.1 1.2±0.8 1.4±0.8 0.9±0.6 1.4±0.8g 0.9±0.6g
   Niacin, mg 13.6±8.8 13.5±9.1 10.2±6.5 10.7±6.6g
   Vitamin C, mg 68.2±97.5 71.3±99.6g 79.9±122.3 81.1±122.6g

Values are mean±standard deviation or number (%).

a Candidate foods: foods which have high possibility of being included in food frequency questionnaire items, which were identified as foods with high contribution to total energy and major nutrient intakes as well as foods of major sources of between-person variation in energy and nutrient intakes.

b Among the participants (men, n=3,250; women, n=4,702), those who did not consume the candidate foods (men, n=1; women, n=3) were excluded from the nutrient intake comparison.

c Nutrient intakes among men calculated from candidate foods of total participants.

d Nutrient intakes among men calculated from candidate foods of only men.

e Nutrient intakes among women calculated from candidate foods of total participants.

f Nutrient intakes among women calculated from candidate foods of only women.

g Nutrient intakes from candidate foods selected for total participants, and for each gender, were compared by paired t-test (<0.001).

h Nutrient intakes from candidate foods selected for total participants, and for each gender, were compared by paired t-test (<0.05).

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