The Maastricht FFQ: Development and validation of a comprehensive food frequency questionnaire for the Maastricht study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a comprehensive food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for The Maastricht Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Methods: Item selection for the FFQ was based on explained variation and contribution to intake of energy and 24 nutrients. For validation, the FFQ was completed by 135 participants (25-70 y of age) of the Nutrition Questionnaires plus study.

A national FFQ for the Netherlands (the FFQ-NL1.0): development and compatibility with existing Dutch FFQs.

Objective: In the Netherlands, various FFQs have been administered in large cohort studies, which hampers comparison and pooling of dietary data. The present study aimed to describe the development of a standardized Dutch FFQ, FFQ-NL1.0, and assess its compatibility with existing Dutch FFQs.

Salt Reductions in Some Foods in The Netherlands: Monitoring of Food Composition and Salt Intake.

Background And Objectives: High salt intake increases blood pressure and thereby the risk of chronic diseases. Food reformulation (or food product improvement) may lower the dietary intake of salt. This study describes the changes in salt contents of foods in the Dutch market over a five-year period (2011-2016) and differences in estimated salt intake over a 10-year period (2006-2015).

A national FFQ for the Netherlands (the FFQ-NL 1.0): validation of a comprehensive FFQ for adults.

A standardised, national, 160-item FFQ, the FFQ-NL 1.0, was recently developed for Dutch epidemiological studies. The objective was to validate the FFQ-NL 1.

Socio-economic status and ethnicity are independently associated with dietary patterns: the HELIUS-Dietary Patterns study.

Background: Differences in dietary patterns between ethnic groups have often been observed. These differences may partially be a reflection of differences in socio-economic status (SES) or may be the result of differences in the direction and strength of the association between SES and diet.

Objective: We aimed to examine ethnic differences in dietary patterns and the role of socio-economic indicators on dietary patterns within a multi-ethnic population.

Development of the HELIUS food frequency questionnaires: ethnic-specific questionnaires to assess the diet of a multiethnic population in The Netherlands.

Objectives: Ethnic minorities are often not included in studies of diet and health because of a lack of validated instruments to assess their habitual diets. Given the increased ethnic diversity in many high-income countries, insight into the diets of ethnic minorities is needed for the development of nutritional policies and interventions. In this paper, we describe the development of ethnic-specific food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) to study the diets of Surinamese (African and South Asian), Turkish, Moroccan and ethnic Dutch residents of The Netherlands.

Feasibility of dietary assessment methods, other tools and procedures for a pan-European food consumption survey among infants, toddlers and children.

Purpose: To test the feasibility of tools and procedures for a pan-European food consumption survey among children 0-10 years and to recommend one of two tested dietary assessment methods.

Methods: Two pilot studies including 378 children were conducted in Belgium and the Czech Republic in the Pilot studies for Assessment of Nutrient intake and food Consumption among Kids in Europe. One protocol included a 3-day food diary which was checked with a parent, and data were entered afterwards using EPIC-Soft.

Feasibility of repeated 24-h dietary recalls combined with a food-recording booklet, using EPIC-Soft, among preschoolers.

Background/objectives: This study evaluates the feasibility among preschoolers of the 2 × 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) method combined with a food-recording booklet (FRB), using EPIC-Soft pc-program for the 24-HDR (the software developed to conduct 24-HDRs in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study).

Subjects/methods: A total of 20 and 25 (4- to 5-year-old) children were recruited, as a convenience sample, through worksites or day or healthcare in Denmark and Spain, respectively. One parent (or both parents together) completed two face-to-face 24-HDR, combined with an optional use of a FRB.

Evaluation of 2 × 24-h dietary recalls combined with a food-recording booklet, against a 7-day food-record method among schoolchildren.

Background/objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the estimated energy, nutrient and food intake from the suggested trans-European methodology for undertaking representative dietary surveys among schoolchildren: 2 × 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) combined with a food-recording booklet (FRB), using EPIC-Soft pc-program (the software developed to conduct 24-HDRs in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study), against a 7-day food-record (7-dFR) method among Danish schoolchildren.

Subjects/methods: A total of 74 children aged 7-8 years and 70 children aged 12-13 years were recruited through the Civil Registration System in Denmark. Each child and one of their parents completed two face-to-face 24-HDRs, combined with optional use of a FRB, followed by a 7-day-estimated FR.

Feasibility of 2 × 24-h dietary recalls combined with a food-recording booklet, using EPIC-Soft, among schoolchildren.

Background/objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the suggested trans-European methodology for undertaking representative dietary surveys among schoolchildren: 2 × 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) combined with a food-recording booklet, using EPIC-Soft (the software developed to conduct 24-HDRs in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study) pc-program.

Subjects/methods: A total of 75 children aged 7-8 years and 70 children aged 12-13 years old were recruited through the Civil Registration System in Denmark, and 57 children aged 7-8 years and 47 children aged 12-13 years were recruited through schools in Spain. Each child with one parent completed two face-to-face 24-HDRs, combined with optional use of a food-recording booklet (FRB) to be filled in by the child, a parent or other proxy persons for preparing the recalls.

Recommendations for a trans-European dietary assessment method in children between 4 and 14 years.

Background/objectives: The main objective of European Food Consumption Validation (EFCOVAL)-child Project is to define and evaluate a trans-European methodology for undertaking national representative dietary surveys among children in the age group of 4-14 years. In the process of identifying the best dietary assessment methodologies, experts were brought together at a workshop. The paper presents the discussion of the best available method and the final recommendations for a trans-European dietary assessment method among 4- to 14-year-old children.

Potential and requirements for a standardized pan-European food consumption survey using the EPIC-Soft software.

Background/objectives: To describe the strengths, limitations and requirements of using EPIC-Soft software (the software developed to conduct 24-h dietary recalls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study) in pan-European food consumption surveys, and to discuss potentials and barriers for a harmonized pan-European food consumption survey.

Subjects/methods: The paper is based on the experiences in the 'European Food Consumption and Validation' Project, which included updating six existing and preparing one new country-specific EPIC-Soft version, applying EPIC-Soft in validation and feasibility studies, and estimating the intake of nutrients and flavoring substances. The experiences were discussed in the September 2009 workshop 'Pan-European Food Consumption Surveys--for Standardized and Comparable Transnational Data Collection'.

A prospective cohort study of dietary patterns of non-western migrants in the Netherlands in relation to risk factors for cardiovascular diseases: HELIUS-Dietary Patterns.

Background: In Western countries the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is often higher in non-Western migrants as compared to the host population. Diet is an important modifiable determinant of CVD. Increasingly, dietary patterns rather than single nutrients are the focus of research in an attempt to account for the complexity of nutrient interactions in foods.

Validation of an FFQ and options for data processing using the doubly labelled water method in children.

Objective: To validate an FFQ designed to estimate energy intake in children against doubly labelled water (DLW). To investigate how quality control and standard beverage portion sizes affect the validity of the FFQ.

Design: Thirty healthy children, aged 4-6 years, participated.

Higher dietary flavone, flavonol, and catechin intakes are associated with less of an increase in BMI over time in women: a longitudinal analysis from the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Background: Dietary flavonoids are suggested to have antiobesity effects. Prospective evidence of an association between flavonoids and body mass index (BMI) is lacking in general populations.

Objective: We assessed this association between 3 flavonoid subgroups and BMI over a 14-y period in 4280 men and women aged 55-69 y at baseline from the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Glycemic load, glycemic index, and pancreatic cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Background: Recent studies of pancreatic cancer suggest a role for hyperinsulinemia in carcinogenesis. Because insulin is secreted in response to elevated blood glucose concentrations, dietary factors that increase these concentrations may be important in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

Objective: The objective was to examine prospectively the relation between pancreatic cancer risk and dietary glycemic load (GL), overall glycemic index (GI), and intake of total carbohydrates and mono- and disaccharides.

Dietary glycemic load, glycemic index and colorectal cancer risk: results from the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Since hyperinsulinemia is implicated in the development of colorectal cancer, determinants of serum insulin levels, like the glycemic load and the glycemic index of the diet, could influence cancer risk. Our objective was to evaluate whether a diet with a high glycemic load or glycemic index is associated with increased colorectal cancer risk. In the Netherlands Cohort Study, 120,852 subjects completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1986.

Validation of a food frequency questionnaire to assess folate intake of Dutch elderly people.

Folate is required for 1-carbon metabolism and deficiency in folate leads to megaloblastic anemia. Low levels of folate have been associated with increased risk of vascular disease. To investigate whether RDA of folate are met, habitual folate intake needs to be assessed reliably.

Common and country-specific dietary patterns in four European cohort studies.

The association between diet and cancer, predominantly investigated univariately, has often been inconsistent, possibly because of the large number of candidate risk factors and their high intercorrelations. Analysis of dietary patterns is expected to give more insight than analysis of single nutrients or foods. This study aimed to develop and apply a common methodological approach to determine dietary patterns in four cohort studies originating in Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Italy.

Isoflavone intake in four different European countries: the VENUS approach.

The aim of this study was to identify the level of isoflavone intake (total isoflavones, daidzein and genistein) in four European countries: Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK. For this purpose national food composition databases of isoflavone content were created in a comparable way, using the Vegetal Estrogens in Nutrition and the Skeleton (VENUS) analytical database as a common basis, and appropriate food consumption data were selected. The isoflavone intake in Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK is on average less than 1 mg/d.

Phyto-oestrogen levels in foods: the design and construction of the VENUS database.

The objective of the Vegetal Estrogens in Nutrition and the Skeleton (VENUS) project was to evaluate existing data on dietary exposure to compounds with oestrogenic and anti-oestrogenic effects present in plant foods as constituents or contaminants, and to identify and disseminate in vitro and in vivo methodologies to analyse the effects of such compounds on bone. To permit the assessment of exposure to isoflavones in European populations (Italy, the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands), the VENUS database of phyto-oestrogen levels in foods was established. Data on the isoflavone (genistein and daidzein) content of 791 foods, including almost 300 foods commonly consumed in Europe, were collected.

Intake of conjugated linoleic acid, fat, and other fatty acids in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer: the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer.

Background: Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is present in milk products and meat from ruminants, appears to have anticarcinogenic activity against breast cancer in animal and in vitro experiments. To date, few epidemiologic data are available in humans.

Objective: This study evaluated the relation between intakes of CLA and other fatty acids and breast cancer incidence in the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Intake of dietary folate vitamers and risk of colorectal carcinoma: results from The Netherlands Cohort Study.

Background: Several studies have reported inverse associations between folate intake and colorectal carcinoma risk. Few were prospective studies and none evaluated the association between the intake of individual folate vitamers and colorectal carcinoma risk.

Methods: The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between dietary folate intake and the risk of colorectal carcinoma in a large prospective cohort study in The Netherlands comprising 120,852 men and women aged 55-69 years.

A prospective cohort study on intake of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids and prostate cancer risk (Netherlands).

Objectives: The roles of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids as risk factors for prostate carcinoma are still questionable. We evaluated these in the Netherlands Cohort Study.

Methods: The cohort study consisted of 58,279 men ages 55-69 years at baseline in 1986.