Assessing long-chain �‰-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: A tailored food-frequency questionnaire is better

Barbara J. Meyer, Monika Swierk, Kenneth Russell

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    12 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Objective: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including the long-chain (LC) Ã�‰-3 PUFAs, are important for health. The aim was to assess if the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria Dietary Questionnaire (ACC DQ) accurately determines PUFA intakes compared with the recently validated electronic PUFA food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ).MethodsForty-one study volunteers were recruited from the local Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The method of triads was used to determine validity coefficients by comparing the ACC DQ intakes against a 3-d weighed food record and appropriate blood biomarkers (erythrocytes and plasma fatty acids). These validity coefficients were subsequently compared with previously published validity coefficients from the PUFA FFQ.ResultsUsing erythrocytes as the biomarker, the electronic PUFA FFQ had much higher validity coefficients compared with the ACC DQ for eicosapentaenoic acid (0.92 versus 0.19), docosahexaenoic acid (0.69 versus 0.26), and total LC Ã�‰-3 PUFAs (0.78 versus 0.23), respectively, whereas Ã�‰-6 PUFAs were comparable. Using plasma as the biomarker, the electronic PUFA FFQ had much higher validity coefficients compared with the ACC DQ for ÃŽ±-linolenic acid (0.96 versus 0.49), eicosapentaenoic acid (0.87 versus 0.19), docosahexaenoic acid (0.64 versus 0.24), and total LC Ã�‰-3 PUFAs (0.73 versus 0.21), respectively, whereas Ã�‰-6 PUFAs were comparable.ConclusionThe validated electronic PUFA FFQ is better suited to determine Ã�‰-3 PUFA intakes than the ACC DQ.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)491-496
    Number of pages6
    JournalNutrition
    Volume29
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013

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