Magnesium (Mg) intake is an important indication of an individual's Mg status, but no validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess intake currently exists. The purpose of this study was to develop and investigate the validity of a semi-quantitative Mg food frequency questionnaire (MgFFQ) against a 14-day food diary to assess average daily Mg intakes. In this cross-sectional study, 135 adults aged 18 to 75 completed the 33-item MgFFQ and a 14-day food diary to assess their Mg intakes. Coefficients of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and/or Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tests were used to determine the relationship between the MgFFQ and the average Mg intake from the 14-day food diary among all participants, men, women, age groups, and body mass index (BMI) groups. The correlation between the MgFFQ and the 14-day food diary was significant (p < 0.05) for all participants (r = 0.798), men (r = 0.855), women (r = 0.759), normal weight (r = 0.762), overweight (r = 0.858), and obese (r = 0.675) weight statuses, and in all age groups. The calcium to magnesium intake (Ca:Mg) ratio in all participants was higher than optimal, 3.39 (2.11). Our results suggest that the MgFFQ is a valid method to capture Mg intake over an extended period of time, therefore acting as a valuable tool to quickly determine Mg intake.
Keywords: food diary; food frequency questionnaire; magnesium; validation study.