The main objectives of the research are to develop and test an efficient instrument for screening and classifying low income pregnant women according toi nutritional status and to investigate patterns of nutrient intake of import to health service delivery. The instrument will allow effective screening and referral of clients in need of special nutrition services, facilitate monitoring of nutrient intake and evaluation of nutrition services, and provide direction to continuing care efforts. The instrument includes a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) covering usual intake and a method for assigning a comprehensive nutrition score. Following pre-testing, it will be administered to prenatal clients attending selected community health centers. For consenting persons completing the FFQ, demographic and medical data will be collected along with time required for administering the instrument and percent of usable completed FFQs. To assess stability, the FFQ will be administered a second time to 100 randomly selected clients, with an interval of 10 to 14 days. Test-retest nutrient scores will be correlated, and multiple regression will examine associations of scores with demographic variables. To assess validity, 4 diet recalls over 2 weeks and a second FFQ will be obtained from each of 100 randomly selected clients; multivariate analysis will be used to examine correspondence of diet recall scores with FFQ scores, controlling for caloric intake and demographic variables. Extent of correct classification by quintile will be examined for FFO vs means of 3 other recalls. Time required for administration of the instrument and percent of usable FFQs by demographic groupings will be analyzed to assess its practicality. Multivariate analysis will explore associations of dietary intake with demographic and medical variables.
