Construção e validação de um Questionário de Frequência Alimentar para avaliar o consumo de alimentos cariogênicos em pré-escolares

Abstract

During childhood, the combination of immature tooth newly erupted in a oral environment with cariogenic and frequent intake of fermentable carbohydrates microbiota can provide many teeth susceptible to developing caries. The food consumption of the research methods are considered basic tools of nutritional epidemiology because of the importance of diet in the etiology of various diseases, including tooth decay, which has been shown in epidemiological research. However, evaluating the consumption of cariogenic foods is still a challenge for the lack of dietary validated instruments for this purpose. For this reason, the present study aimed to create and validate a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to analyze the consumption of cariogenic foods among preschoolers. A quantitative FFQ containing 24 foods that have cariogenic potential was developed. Were sampled eighty-nine children aged between three and six years who were waiting for service at the Clinic of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, with 37 males and 52 females. During the interview (a) responsible answered whether the child had consumed the food described in FFQ in the last year, the frequency of consumption (per day, week, month or year) and the consumed portion. Next, was asked about the food intake of the child the day before the interview. After the instrument was subjected to a validation process, by comparing the data obtained from the FFQ with a reference method, that is, dietary recall the previous day (R24hs). Food and preparations listed in the recalls were analyzed for caloric and nutrient composition in ADS Nutri program. Data from QFAs were double entered in Excel spreadsheets. Validity was assessed by comparing the average intake of nutrient data obtained from the Food Frequency Questionnaire with nutrient intake data obtained in the previous day food recall, the Pearson correlation coefficients being used to evaluate the association between estimated nutrient intake between instruments. The average intake of nutrients was higher when evaluated by the recall, while only the intake of energy and carbohydrates were higher in the FFQ. By doing the analysis adjusted for energy intake, the average consumption of nutrients remained the same. Statistical analysis revealed that the crude analysis, although we did see a positive correlations between the two methods, they showed low values. In the adjusted analysis of all the correlations lost significance and, furthermore, show low correlation coefficients, which did not allow validation of the questionnaire. The results of this study indicate that the FFQ developed was not valid to analyze the consumption of cariogenic foods in preschool, being necessary to perform retry validation by comparing the FFQ to another intake assessment method.