The influence of education in the validation process of a food frequency questionnaire for adults in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Objective: To evaluate the educational influence in the relative validation of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQs) for adults in the city of Viçosa, Brazil. Design and subjects: Four 24-h dietary recalls (reference method) were applied to a sample of 94 adults of both genders, at intervals of 1 month. At the end of the study, an FFQs consisting of 58 food items was also applied. Then, the individuals were divided into two main groups according to their educational level (lower and higher). The dietary data were calculated by the Diet Pro 4.0 software and analyzed according to differences of means or medians and Pearson's correlation coefficients. These coefficients were adjusted by the energy and corrected by the within-person variance for each educational group, considering the extreme quartiles of the data distribution. Results: The intake of energy and nutrients, based on the 24 h dietary recalls, was inferior for the lower educational group ( P