Development of a flexible, updatable, user-friendly electronic food frequency questionnaire

The paper describes the development of an Access-based electronic food frequency questionnaire, capable of collecting information in a convenient, efficient and reliable manner, with data-handling routines to analyse the information and output findings as concise user-friendly reports. It contains a comprehensive food list alongside a nutrient data set, derived from McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods. Frequency of consumption of each food is divided into six categories, and portion size classed as large, medium or small, the medium portion being defined in grams. Data can be input directly using a laptop via a simple user interface, removing the need for forms. Immediate analysis of food consumption is accessible on screen or as hard copy, and results can be exported for statistical analysis. The structure and the algorithms of the program make it extremely flexible, enabling it to be tailored and re-validated according to specific requirements.

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