ALSPAC: dietary data collection
ALSPAC collected dietary information from both mothers, their partners, and children at various time points (see the table below).
The information was collected using FFQs, diet diaries, and other diet-related questions.
Much of the diet questions and data are available in CLOSER Discovery. The ALSPAC study website also contains details of all the data that are available through a searchable data dictionary and variable search tool; links are also provided to specific questionnaires in the table below. Details of the dietary collection methods have been discussed in a previous publication and will be briefly outlined here.
The table below outlines the diet-related questions in ALSPAC:
In this section
Diet-related questions in ALSPAC
| Child age (Year) | Respondent: Questionnaire name(s)* (File code▽) |
FFQ | Diet diary‡ | Disordered eating | Food security & poverty | Other | Derived variables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respondent codes = pCM (parent/carer reporting about cohort member), CM (cohort member reporting about themselves, G1), CMP (cohort member’s partner), M (Mother/Carer, G0), P (Partner/Father, G0) | |||||||
| Pregnancy, 32 weeks gestation (1991-1992) |
M: Your Pregnancy (C) P: Partners Questionnaire (PB) |
M, P (partial) | M | (M) Diets and weight control | |||
| 4 weeks (1991-1992) |
pCM: My Young Baby Girl/Boy (KA) | pCM (infant feeding) | (pCM) Infant feeding behaviours | (pCM) Infant feeding behaviours (pCM) Dietary pattern scores |
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| 4 months (1992-1993) |
pCM: Children in Focus clinic (CIF) | pCM** | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 6 months (1991-1993) |
pCM: My Daughter/Son (KB) | pCM† | (pCM) Infant feeding behaviours | (pCM) Infant feeding behaviours | |||
| 8 months (1992-1993) |
pCM: Children in Focus clinic (CIF) | pCM** | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 15 months (1992-1994) |
pCM: My Infant Daughter/Son (KC) | pCM† | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 18 months (1994) |
pCM: Children in Focus clinic (CIF) | pCM** | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 2 years (1994-1995) |
pCM: My Little Girl/Boy (KE) | pCM | (pCM) Eating habits | (pCM) Dietary pattern scores | |||
| 3 years (1995-1996) |
pCM: My Three Year old Boy/Girl (KG) | pCM | (pCM) Eating habits | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (pCM) Dietary pattern scores (pCM) Feeding difficulties score |
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| 3.5 years (1996) |
pCM: Children in Focus clinic (CIF) | pCM** | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 4 years (1996-1997) |
M: Mother’s New Questionnaire (J) P: Partner’s New Questionnaire (PG) pCM: My Young Four Year Old Boy/Girl (KK) |
M, P, pCM | (M, P, pCM) Eating habits | (M, P, pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (M, P, pCM) Dietary pattern scores |
|||
| 5 years (1997) |
pCM: Children in Focus clinic (CIF) | pCM** | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake | ||||
| 6/7 years (1997-1999) |
pCM: My Son/Daughter At School (KQ) | pCM | (pCM) Eating habits | (pCM) Estimated average nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (pCM) Dietary pattern scores (pCM) Feeding difficulties score |
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| 7 years (1998-2000) |
pCM: Focus @ 7 clinic (F07) | pCM | (pCM) Average weight of dietary intake (pCM) Estimated nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (pCM) Dietary pattern scores |
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| 8/9 years (2000-2002) |
M: Mother and Family (N) P: Father and Family (PL) pCM: My Son/Daughter at Home & At School (KT) |
M, P, pCM | (M, P) Food attitudes (M, P, pCM) Eating habits |
(pCM) Estimated nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (pCM) Dietary pattern scores |
|||
| 10 years (2002-2003) |
pCM: Focus @ 10 clinic (F10) | pCM | (pCM) Average weight of dietary intake (pCM) Estimated nutrient, food groups, and energy intake (pCM) Dietary pattern scores |
||||
| 12/13 years (2004-2006) |
M: Twelve Years On (S) P: About me (PQ) pCM: My Teenage Son/Daughter (TA) CM: Food and Things (CCM) |
M, P, pCM, CM | pCM | (M, P, pCM, CM) Eating habits | (pCM) Dietary pattern scores | ||
| 14 years (2005-2007) |
Boys’/Girls’ Experiences, Thoughts and Behaviour (CCQ) | CM | |||||
| 16 years (2007-2009) |
Life of a 16+ Teenager (CCS) | CM | |||||
| 17 years (2010) |
About Eating (XB) | M | |||||
| 18 years (2010-2011) |
Your Changing Life (CCT) | CM | |||||
| 23 years (2015-2016) |
Me at 23+ (YPC) | (CM) Eating behaviours | |||||
| 24 years (2016-2017) |
Life @ 24+(YPD) | CM | |||||
| 25 years (2017-2018) |
Life @ 25+(YPE) | CM | (CM) Food preferences | ||||
| 27 years (2020) |
COVID1 | CM, CMP, M, P | Amount eaten changed in COVID lockdown (CM, M, P) | ||||
| 27 years (2020) |
COVID2 | CM, CMP, M, P | Eating habits since lockdown & in last month (frequency & estimated intake of select foods) | Obesogenic dietary pattern score | |||
| 27/28 years (2020-2021) |
COVID4 | Eating habits before & after COVID lockdown (CM, M, P) | |||||
| 28 years (2020-2021) |
Life @ 28+ (YPH) | Eating habits before & after COVID lock-down (CM) | |||||
| 29 years (2021-2022) |
Life @ 29+ (YPJ) | Dairy/meat eating (CM) | |||||
| 29 years (2022) |
COVID6 | CM, M, P | Changes in frequency of eating takeaways (CM, M, P) | ||||
| 30 years (2022-2023) |
Parents questionnaire 2022 (Z, FPD) Life @30+ (YPL) |
M, P, CM | CM | Dairy/meat eating (M, P) | |||
| 31 years (2023) |
Life @ 31+ (YPM) | CM | |||||
| 32 years (2023) |
Winter 2023 questionnaire (MB, FF) | M, P | M, P | ||||
Notes.
* Hyperlinks provided to the ALSPAC questionnaire in CLOSER Discovery or study website. Clinic visits and COVID19 questionnaires do not have a hyperlink; documentation for the clinic & COVID data is available through downloading the ALSPAC Data Dictionary.
▽ In the ALSPAC Data Dictionary, each questionnaire is stored in a single file and represented by a unique file code, which indicate the respondent. Typically these follow these rules (although there are some exceptions): single letter codes = mother/carer based; two-letter codes beginning with P or F = partner/father based; two letter codes beginning with K or T = cohort member-based but completed by the mother/carer; three-letter codes beginning with CC or YP = cohort member completed.
** asked of Children in Focus subsample (a 10% subsample of the main sample).
† Infant FFQ not detailed enough to estimate energy intake.
‡ One-day diet diary at age 4 months. Three-day diet diary for other ages.
Much of the diet questions and data are available in CLOSER Discovery. The ALSPAC study website also contains details of all the data that are available through a searchable data dictionary and variable search tool; links to relevant questionnaire sources in the table below. Details of the dietary collection methods have been discussed in a previous publication and will be briefly outlined here [94].