Validity of physical activity and food consumption questionnaire for children aged seven to ten years old

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: assess reproducibility and concurrent validity of the questionnaire focusing on a typical physical activity and food intake day (DAFA) to measure physical activity and food intake in children between seven and ten years old. METHODS: sixty nine children recruited in a public school located in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina participated of the survey. Reproducibility was determined by comparing measures of two DAFA applications in a two week interval while concurrent validity of physical activity was assessed by comparing DAFA with a questionnaire filled by parents/teachers. As for food intake, the reference method was a 24 hour recordatory. Analysis included concordance coefficient determination, intraclass correlation, adjusted kappa coefficient and Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: concordance coefficient was of 88% (school commuting) and 68% (physical activity related attitude) while intraclass correlation was of 0.85 for the general measure for physical activity. Using the report of parents/teachers, the children were broken into three groups of physical activities (low/medium/high), it should be considered that DAFA scores differed significantly. As for food intake measuring, 80% of concordance was determined between DAFA applications. Interinstrument convergence was substantial/moderate in relation to 17 food items. CONCLUSIONS: DAFA allows for physical activity and food intake measures in children with good reproducibility and moderate validation evidence.