Development and Reliability of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Intake of Non-Essential Energy-Dense Nutritionally-Deficient (NEEDNT) Food Items

ii Background:Obesity is a large and growing problem in the world today due to its association with non-communicable disease. Dietary energy density is an important contributor to obesity. People who are overweight are more likely than people of a healthy weight to be consuming an energy densediet.Energy dense food often has a poor nutritional content highlightingthe importance of nutrient as well as energy density. Energy dense nutrient poor food is not required in the diet to maintain good health. There is currentlyno quick, cost effective toolto measureindividual intakes of energy dense nutrient poor food. The NEEDNT (Non-Essential, Energy-Dense, Nutritionally-Deficient) Food Listwas developed as a clinical tool to aid in weight management. It is a comprehensive list containing energy dense nutrient poor foods that should be avoided, withlower energy dense alternatives provided where possible. A Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) based on this list could be used in research and clinical settings to assessindividual intakes of energy dense nutrient poor foods. Objective:The aim of this study was to develop and assess the reliabilityof a short FFQbased on the newly developed NEEDNT Food List. Design:This was a cross sectional test re-test observational study. Participants completed the Non-Essential Energy-Dense Nutritionally-Deficient Food Frequency Questionnaire (NEEDNT-FFQ) on two separate occasions, 7-10 days apart. Participants were required to be obese (BMI above 30kg/m) and 18-65years of age. Results: 13 men and 41 women completed the study. Participants had a BMI range of 30.1-54kg/m, and age range of 21-65years. Eight out of 48 FFQ items were consumed i