Kostholdsspørreskjemaer

Kostholdsspørreskjemaer, often translated as dietary questionnaires or food frequency questionnaires, are tools used in nutritional research and public health to collect information about an individual's food intake over a specified period. These questionnaires typically ask respondents to report how often and in what quantities they consume a range of food items and beverages. The purpose is to assess dietary patterns, identify nutrient intake, and explore the relationship between diet and health outcomes such as chronic diseases or obesity.

The design of kostholdsspørreskjemaer can vary significantly. Some are comprehensive, listing hundreds of food items, while others are shorter and focus on specific food groups or nutrients. The time frame for recall can also differ, ranging from a single day to a month or even a year. Data collected from these questionnaires are often used to estimate average nutrient intakes, identify potential dietary deficiencies or excesses, and to inform public health recommendations and interventions.

Despite their widespread use, kostholdsspørreskjemaer have limitations. They rely on self-reported data, which can be subject to recall bias and inaccuracies in estimating portion sizes. Social desirability bias, where respondents may over-report healthy foods and under-report less healthy ones, can also affect the validity of the data. Therefore, researchers often use these questionnaires in conjunction with other methods, such as diet diaries or 24-hour dietary recalls, to obtain a more complete and accurate picture of an individual's diet.