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.

Dutch FFQTOOLTM was used to develop the FFQ-NL1.0 by selecting food items with the largest contributions to total intake and explained variance in intake of energy and thirty-nine nutrients in adults aged 25–69 years from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (DNFCS) 2007–2010. Compatibility with the Maastricht-FFQ, Wageningen-FFQ and EPICNL-FFQ was assessed by comparing the number of food items, the covered energy and nutrient intake, and the covered variance in intake.

FFQ-NL1.0 comprised 160 food items, v. 253, 183 and 154 food items for the Maastricht-FFQ, Wageningen-FFQ and EPICNL-FFQ, respectively. FFQ-NL1.0 covered ≥85 % of energy and all nutrients reported in the DNFCS. Covered variance in intake ranged from 57 to 99 % for energy and macronutrients, and from 45 to 93 % for micronutrients. Differences between FFQ-NL1.0 and the other FFQs in covered nutrient intake and covered variance in intake were <5 % for energy and all macronutrients. For micronutrients, differences between FFQ-NL and other FFQs in covered level of intake were <15 %, but differences in covered variance were much larger, the maximum difference being 36 %.

The FFQ-NL1.0 was compatible with other FFQs regarding energy and macronutrient intake. However, compatibility for covered variance of intake was limited for some of the micronutrients. If implemented in existing cohorts, it is advised to administer the old and the new FFQ in combination to derive calibration factors.

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.

Thirty healthy children, aged 4–6 years, participated. Total energy expenditure (EE) was measured by the DLW method during an observation period of 15 d. At the end of this period parents filled out an FFQ designed to assess the child’s habitual energy intake (EI) of the preceding four weeks.

Validation study in The Netherlands.

Thirty healthy children (fifteen boys and fifteen girls), aged 4–6 years.

Mean EI (6117 (sd 1025) kJ/d) did not differ significantly from mean EE (6286 (sd 971) kJ/d; P = 0·15); the mean EI:EE ratio was 0·98. The Pearson correlation coefficient between EI and EE was 0·62. The Bland–Altman plot showed no systematic bias and a constant bias close to zero. Less intensive quality control of the FFQ maintained the mean EI:EE ratio and decreased the correlation slightly. Using standard instead of individually measured beverage portion sizes decreased the mean EI:EE ratio, but maintained the correlation.

It can be concluded that the developed FFQ is a valid instrument to estimate mean energy intake in a group of 4- to 6-year-old children and performs reasonably well to rank the subjects with respect to energy intake. It is therefore a useful instrument to estimate energy intake in children in surveys and epidemiological studies in The Netherlands.