Carnegie Mellon University
Dietary Intake (BCS, PCS1, PCS2)

Dietary Intake (BCS, PCS1, PCS2):

Title

Eating Habits Questionnaire

Study

BCS

Copyright Information

Not a copyrighted scale

Primary Reference

Cohen, S., Tyrrell, D. A. J., & Smith, A. P. (1991). Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. New England Journal of Medicine, 325, 606-612.

Purpose

To estimate participants’ daily eating habits

Type of Measure

Created for study

Description

Using a 5-point response scale, participants rate the frequencies with which they typically engage in five different types of diet-related behaviors:

  • Eating breakfast
  • Eating between meals
  • Taking vitamin supplements
  • Consuming fruits
  • Consuming vegetables

Number of Items

5

Scaling

For eating breakfast and eating between meals: 

0 =not in past year, 1 = less than once a month, 2 = once a month or more, 3 = once a week or more, 4 = daily or almost daily


For taking vitamin supplements:

0 = less than once a month, 1 = once a week, 2 = 2 or 3 times a week, 3 = once a day, 4 = more than once a day


For fruit and vegetable intakes:

0 = less than once a week, 1 = once a week, 2 = 2 or 3 times a week, 3 = 4 or 5 times a week, 4 = once a day, 5 = more than once a day

Scoring

The diet score used in Cohen et al. (1991) was created by taking the sum across the breakfast, fruit, and vegetable items.  Because of the difference in scale between the former and latter 2 items, the breakfast variable was multiplied by 1.25 prior to computation.

Title

The CLUE II – Food Frequency/Diet Questionnaire – 1989

Studies

PCS1, PCS2

Copyright Information

The copyright for the Block Health Habits and History Food Frequency Questionnaire from which the CLUE II questionnaire was derived is held by NutritionQuest.

Primary References

1. Block, G., Hartman, A. M., Dresser, C. M., Carrol, M. D., Gannon, J., & Gardner, L. (1986) A data-based approach to diet questionnaire design and testing. American Journal of Epidemiology, 124, 453-469.

2. Block, G., Hartman, A. M., & Naughton, D. (1990). A reduced dietary questionnaire: Development and validation. Epidemiology, 1, 58-64.

3. Block, G., Norkus, E., Hudes, M., Mandel, S., & Helzlsouer, K. (2001). Which plasma antioxidants are most related to fruit and vegetable consumption? American Journal of Epidemiology. 154 (12), 1113-1118.

Purpose

To estimate usual and customary intake of a wide array of nutrients and food groups.

Type of Measure

Revised.  The CLUE II FFQ is 62-item modification of the Block Health Habits and History Food Frequency Questionnaire.

Description

Participants used the CLUE II FFQ to report on their usual eating habits over the past year. The FFQ is comprised of a checklist of several types of foods and beverages. For each food/beverage item, respondents are asked to report both their typical frequency of consumption during the past year, and their usual portion size. Frequency is rated on a 9-point scale, ranging from never/less than once a month to two or more times per day. Portion sizes are rated as being small, medium, -or large relative to a provided example of a medium serving. Calculations for nutrient intake can be estimated via computerized software programs that multiply the reported frequency of each food by the amount of nutrient in a serving of that food.  Computer editing and nutrient analyses of PCS1 and PCS2 FFQ data were performed by Block Dietary Data Systems (Berkeley, CA).  Nutrient analyses now are performed by NutritionQuest.

Variables

All of the following variables refer to usual daily consumption.

  • Variety of foods consumed
  • Amount of food consumed
        °   Total food consumed (grams)
        °   Carbohydrates (grams)
        °   Cholesterol (mg)
        °   Fat (grams)
                 -  Total
                 -  Polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid, oleic acid)
                 -  Saturated fat
  • Calories
        °   Total calories consumed (kcal)
        °   % from fat
        °   % from protein
        °   % from carbohydrates
        °   % from sweets
        °   % from alcohol
  • Dietary vitamins and minerals
        °   Vitamin A & derivatives (alpha carotene, beta carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, retinol)
        °   B-vitamins (B6, folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin)
        °   Vitamin C
        °   Vitamin E
        °   Calcium
        °   Iron
        °   Magnesium
        °   Phosphorus
        °   Zinc
  • Electrolytes (sodium, potassium)
  • Fiber (grams)
  • Protein (grams)
  • Vitamins and minerals from supplements
        °   Vitamin A
        °   Beta-carotene
        °   Vitamins B1/B2, B6, B12, and folic acid
        °   Vitamin C
        °   Vitamin D
        °   Vitamin E
        °   Calcium
        °   Copper
        °   Iron
        °   Zinc