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A Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is a dietary assessment tool that asks people how often they eat specific foods and beverages over a set period, such as the past month or year. It’s commonly used in nutrition research to estimate usual dietary patterns in large groups. FFQs are efficient and cost-effective, but they rely on memory and may not accurately capture portion sizes or all culturally specific foods.
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Editorial responsibilityReferences and further reading
- Cade J, Thompson R, Burley V, Warm D. Development, validation and utilisation of food-frequency questionnaires: a review. Public Health Nutrition. 2002;5(4):567–587. doi:10.1079/PHN2001318. ([pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12186666/?utm_source=openai)) View source
- Cui Q, Xia Y, Wu Q, et al. Validity of the food frequency questionnaire for adults in nutritional epidemiological studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2023;63(12):1670–1688. doi:10.1080/10408398.2021.1966737. ([pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34520300/?utm_source=openai)) View source
- Willett W. Food-frequency questionnaires. In: Nutritional Epidemiology. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press; 2013. ([pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25719771/?utm_source=openai)) View source
How to cite this entry
Encyclopedia of Nutritional Psychology. (2026). Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The Center for Nutritional Psychology.
https://dev.nutritional-psychology.org/encyclopedia/food-frequency-questionnaire-ffq/Know a term that belongs in the Encyclopedia?
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