Food questionnaire for the assessment of gluten intake by children 1 to 4 years old.

Objectives: A food questionnaire (FQ) to assess gluten intake in infants 0 to 12 months old has been developed and validated (FQ-gluten), but an instrument to assess gluten intake in children 1 to 4 years is not available. Development and validation of such an instrument (FQ-gluten4) was the aim of the present study.

Methods: The FQ-gluten was adapted according to age-related food consumption. The results of this FQ-gluten4 were compared with the results of a 2-day food record.

Results: Seventy-one parents filled in both instruments. The mean amount of gluten consumption calculated from the FQ-gluten4 was comparable with that of the food record, but significant differences were found in the amount of gluten intake in 1- to 2-year-old children and in the percentage of gluten from porridge among the 1- to 3-year-olds. The Blant-Altman limits of agreement with standard deviation of 2600 mg were -5118 to 5630 mg.

Conclusions: The new, short, standardized, validated, and easy-to-use FQ-gluten4 may be a useful instrument in the assessment of gluten intake in young children. Using this standardized method provides opportunity for better comparison of the results of gluten consumption in studies throughout the world. Furthermore, such an instrument can be used to quantify the gluten intake in individuals suspected to have celiac disease but in whom the diagnoses cannot be confirmed.