. 2016 Oct 21;20(4):578–597. doi: 10.1017/S1368980016002639

Table 3.

Summary of the FFQ (n 24) identified for the assessment of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB): number of items, instrument purpose, population, definition of SSB, reference period, mode, frequency categories and portion estimation

Study	Type/number of items	Purpose	Population	Definition	Reference period	Mode	Frequency categories	Portion estimated? (yes/no)
Adults
CNSHS⁽ ⁵⁶ ^, ⁵⁷ ⁾	Non-quantitative General questionnaire One item on SSB	Test association between food patterns and living arrangements⁽ ⁵⁶ ⁾ Test association between diet and stress/depressive symptoms⁽ ⁵⁷ ⁾	Adults/students Age range NR	‘Soft drinks’	NR	Self-admin.	5 categories, ranging from ‘several times a day’ to ‘1–4 times a month’, and ‘never’	No
ENERGY⁽ ⁵¹ ⁾* Adults’ FFQ	Semi-quantitative General questionnaire One item on SSB	Determine prevalence of EBRB Identify personal, family and school environmental correlates of EBRB	Adults/caregivers Age range NR	‘Soft drinks’ defined as: ‘Fizzy drinks and fruit squash but NOT diet drinks and fruit juice’ Provided examples	Previous week Usual consumption on a day on which SSB consumed	Self-admin.	7 categories per week, ranging from ‘never’, ‘1 portion or less per week’ to ‘5 or more portions per day’ 6 categories per day, ranging from ‘none’, ‘1 glass/small bottle’ to ‘5 or more glasses/bottles’	Yes Assessed in-line Subject can select the number of glasses/ small cartons (250 ml) and regular cartons (330 ml) drank on a day of consumption
ESCAREL⁽ ¹¹⁰ ⁾	Non-quantitative Five-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Assess the prevalence of tooth wear on buccal/facial and lingual/palatal tooth surfaces Identify related risk factors (i.e. fresh fruit and juice intake)	Adults 18–35 years	‘Soft drinks, i.e. cola beverages, Sprite, lemonade, Fanta, iced tea, etc.’ ‘Isotonic drinks/energy drinks, e.g. Isostar, Powerade, Perform, Red-bull, Red Horse, etc.’	Not stated	Self-admin.	4 categories: ‘often’, ‘rarely’, ‘never’, ’don’t know’ For items ranked as ‘often’, a choice of 5 categories ranging from ‘more than 3 times per week to ‘less than once per week’ could be selected	No
Finbalt Health Monitor⁽ ⁶⁰ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Sixteen-item FFQ One item on SSB	Assess gender differences in F&V consumption	Adults 20–64 years	‘Soft drinks’	Previous week	Self-admin.	4 categories: ‘never’, ‘1–2 days’, ‘3–5 days’ and ‘6–7 days’	No
Finnish and Russian Karelia study⁽ ⁶⁵ ⁾* (2002 survey)	Non-quantitative Forty-three-item Finnish FFQ (FINRISK), two items on SSB Twenty-item Russian FFQ, one item on SSB	Determine socio-economic differences in the consumption of vegetables, fruit and berries in two regions	Adults 25–64 years	Finnish FFQ: ‘Soft drinks with sugar (e.g. cola etc)’ ‘Diet soft drinks (e.g. Funlight, Pepsi Max, Light-Cola)’ Russian FFQ: ‘Juices or soft drinks’	12 months	Self-admin.	6 categories, ranging from ‘less than once a month’ to ‘daily or more often’	No
Food4Me⁽ ¹⁰³ ^– ¹⁰⁵ ⁾	Semi-quantitative, web-based, 157-item FFQ	Determine impact of personalised dietary advice on eating patterns and health outcomes	Adults 18–79 years	Under ‘Drinks’: ‘Fizzy soft drinks, e.g. coca cola/lemonade’ ‘Low-calorie/diet fizzy soft drinks’ ‘Fruit squash/cordial/nectar’	Previous month	Self-admin.	9 categories, ranging from ‘never or less than once a month’ to ‘5–6 times per day’ and ‘>6 times per day’	Yes Three photographs representing small, medium and large portions Participants could select one of the following options: ‘very small’, ‘small’, ‘small/medium’, ‘medium’, ‘medium/large’, ‘large’ or ‘very large’, which were linked electronically to portion sizes (in grams)
HAPIEE⁽ ⁵⁸ ⁾*	Semi-quantitative Items: Czech=136, Russian=147, Polish=148 Three items on SSB	Test association between socio-economic indicators and diet⁽ ¹¹⁵ ⁾	Adults 45–69 years	As per generic FFQ ‘Fizzy drink’ ‘Squash’ ‘Diet/low-calorie fizzy drinks’	Previous 3 months	Interview (Russia & Poland) Self-admin. (Czech Republic)	9 categories, ranging from ‘never’ to ‘6 or more times per day’ Open-ended section where subject could add any further foods not listed	Yes Assessed in-line A country-specific portion size for each food was specified Participants were asked how often, on average, they had consumed a ‘medium serving’ of the items – defined as 2 dl or 1 tablespoon (squash)
I.Family Project⁽ ⁶⁶ ^, ⁶⁹ ⁾	Non-quantitative Sixty-item FFQ Four items on SSB	Assess determinants of eating behaviour	Adults/parents Age range not determined	‘Carbonated sugar sweetened drinks (e.g. Coca-Ccola, Fanta, non-alcoholic beer, etc.)’ ‘Diet carbonated drinks (e.g. diet cola, etc.)’ ‘Sugar-sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. bottled ice tea, syrup-based drinks and similar, fruit juices with less than 100 % fruit, sports drinks, non-alcoholic wine, etc.)’ ‘Artificially sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. diet ice tea, diet fruit syrup, diet sports drinks, etc.)’ Local examples provided	Typical week over the previous month	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘never/less than once a week’ to ‘4 or more times per day’	No
Kolarzyk et al. ⁽ ¹⁰⁷ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Thirty-nine-item FFQ One item on SSB	Examine the food choices and determine the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity	Adults/students Age range NR	‘Sweet drinks’	Previous month	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘not eaten at all’ to ‘eaten every day’	No
MEDIS study⁽ ⁶¹ ^, ⁹⁵ ⁾	Semi-quantitative Total number of items unknown	Test association between energy-generating nutrients and obesity	Adults/elderly 65–80+ years	‘Soft drinks’	NR	NR	Frequency assessed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis	No
MGSD⁽ ⁶² ⁾*	Dietary history method using a seventy-eight-item FFQ One item on SSB	Compare the nutritional habits among six Mediterranean countries and with official recommendations	Adults 35–60 years	‘Coca-Cola, Pepsi or other sugary drinks’	NR	Interview administered face-to-face	Enter number per day or per week for pre-coded items Open-ended section structured by 7 meals, where participant enters the time, description, quantity and whether food was eaten at home or in a restaurant	Assessed in-line 300 ml, 1 can Assessed separately Household measures
ToyBox⁽ ⁸² ^, ⁸³ ⁾* Caregiver’s Questionnaire	Semi-quantitative Forty-four-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Measure the effectiveness of an intervention to prevent obesity	Adults/parents or guardians Age range NR	‘Sugared beverages (soda drinks like cola, lemonade, ice tea)’ (defined as: ‘all sugared or sweet-flavoured beverages, carbonated or not, plain or light e.g. Cola and Cola light/zero, Ice Tea, 7-up, Pepsi, Fanta, Fanta non-carbonated, Sprite, Orangina, etc.)’ ‘Fruit juice, pre-packed/bottled (100 %, nectar etc.)’ (defined as ‘all fruit juice-based products including 100 % fresh juice bottled or in paper-pack, 30 % fruit juice with added sugar (nectar), sports drinks, smoothies, canned juices, e.g. Life, Tropicana, lemonade, Lucozade’)	NR	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘1–3 days per month’ to ‘every day’	Yes Assessed in-line Portion sizes provided: 1 cup=250 ml; 1 can=330 ml, 1 small plastic bottle=500 ml; 1 glass lemonade=250 ml
Adolescents
HBSC 2009/10 survey⁽ ⁴¹ ^, ⁶⁷ ⁾* FFQ	Non-quantitative Seven-item FFQ, four mandatory items One item on SSB	Determine health and health behaviours and the factors that influence them⁽ ⁴¹ ⁾ Investigate influence of chronological period of data collection on dietary intake⁽ ⁶⁷ ⁾	Adolescents 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds	‘Sweetened soft drinks (cola or other soft drinks that contain sugar)’	Habitual intake over week	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘never’ ‘less than once a week’ to ‘every day, more than once’	No
HELENA⁽ ⁵⁴ ^, ⁵⁵ ⁾	Semi-quantitative 137-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Assess effectiveness of an intervention to enhance the physical activity and diet of adolescents	Adolescents 13–17 years	‘Regular soft drinks’ and ‘Diet soft drinks’ listed under the ‘beverages’ heading	NR	Self-admin.	Select from typically 10 frequency categories, then select frequency of: units per day’, ‘units per week’ or ‘units during the last 30 days’	Yes Assessed in-line Frequency and portion selected together for fruit juices; i.e. 1 glass/2 glass, …, 10 glasses Assessed separately Photos, four portion sizes (amorphous foods)
I.Family Project⁽ ⁶⁶ ^, ⁶⁹ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Sixty-item FFQ Four items on SSB	Assess determinants of eating behaviour	Adolescents 12–17 years	‘Carbonated sugar-sweetened drinks (e.g. Coca-Cola, Fanta, non-alcoholic beer, etc.)’ ‘Diet carbonated drinks (e.g. diet cola, etc.)’ ‘Sugar-sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. bottled ice tea, syrup-based drinks and similar, fruit juices with less than 100 % fruit, sports drinks, non-alcoholic wine, etc.)’ ‘Artificially sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. diet ice tea, diet fruit syrup, diet sports drinks, etc.)’ Local examples provided	Typical week over the previous month	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘never/less than once a week’ to ‘4 or more times per day’	No
Larsson et al. ⁽ ⁷¹ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Thirty-three-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Determine prevalence of vegetarianism Compare food habits among vegetarians and omnivores	Adolescents Age range NR	‘Regular soda’ ‘Light soda’	Not stated	Self-admin.	6 categories, ranging from ‘never/rarely’ to ‘several times a day’. Subjects also report for a typical weekday, times they usually eat and what type of meal they usually eat at the time	No
Szczepanska et al. ⁽ ⁷² ⁾*	Non-quantitative Twelve-item FFQ One item on SSB	Assess and compare dietary habits	Middle school age Age range NR	‘Carbonated drinks (Fanta, Sprite, Coke, Pepsi)’	Not stated	Self-admin.	5 categories, ranging from ‘daily’, ‘3–4 times a week’ to ‘several times a month’, ‘less/occasionally’, ‘never’	No
TEMPEST⁽ ⁷³ ^– ⁷⁵ ⁾*	Semi-quantitative Five-item FFQ One item on SSB	Test association of ‘subjective peer norms’ with eating intentions and diet	Adolescents 12–17 years	‘Soft drinks, lemonade or energy drinks’ Explained that light soft drinks and mineral water should not be taken into account for the soft drink measure	Per average day	Self-admin.	5 categories, ranging from ‘less than 1’ to ‘more than 4’	Yes Assessed in-line Specified ‘glass’ as the portion
Children
Cinar and Murtomaa⁽ ⁷⁶ ⁾* Pre-adolescent FFQ	Non-quantitative Fourteen-item FFQ One item on SSB	Determine clustering between obesity and lifestyle factors in two countries	Children 10–12 years	‘Soft drinks or juice’	Previous week	Self-admin.	4 categories: ‘6–7 days’, ‘3–5 days’, ‘1–2 days’ and ‘not at all’	No
ENERGY⁽ ⁵¹ ^, ⁷⁷ ⁾* Children’s FFQ	Semi-quantitative General questionnaire One item on SSB	Determine prevalence of EBRB Identify personal, family and school environmental correlates of EBRB	Children 10–12 years	‘Fizzy drinks or fruit squash’ Specified that this was: ‘NOT diet drinks and fruit juice’ Provided examples	Previous week Usual consumption on a day on which SSB consumed	Self-admin.	7 categories per week, ranging from ‘never’, ‘1 portion or less per week’ to ‘5 or more portions per day’ 6 categories per day, ranging from ‘none’, ‘1 glass/small bottle’ to ‘5 or more glasses/bottles’	Yes Assessed in-line Subject can select number of glasses/small cartons (250 ml) and regular cartons (330 ml) drank on a day of consumption
IDEFICS⁽ ³⁹ ^, ⁴⁰ ^, ⁷⁹ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Forty-eight-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Determine the aetiology of overweight, obesity and related disorders Test association between diet and cardiovascular risk factors⁽ ¹¹⁷ ⁾ Test association between diet and BMI	Children 2–9 years (parents or guardians as proxies)	‘Sweetened drinks including sports drinks, bottled or canned tea, syrup-based drinks and similar’ Local examples given. ‘Diet coke or diet soft drinks’ Local examples given	Typical week over the previous month	Self-admin.	8 categories, ranging from ‘never/less than once a week’ to ‘4 or more times per day’ ‘I have no idea’ was also an option	No
I.Family Project⁽ ⁶⁶ ^, ⁶⁹ ⁾*	Non-quantitative Fifty-nine-item FFQ Four items on SSB	Assess determinants of eating behaviour	Children 2–11 years (parents or guardians as proxies)	‘Carbonated sugar sweetened drinks (e.g. Coca-Cola, Fanta, non-alcoholic beer, etc.)’ ‘Diet carbonated drinks (e.g. diet cola, etc.)’ ‘Sugar-sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. bottled ice tea, syrup-based drinks and similar, fruit juices with less than 100 % fruit, sports drinks, non-alcoholic wine, etc.)’ ‘Artificially sweetened drinks, not carbonated (e.g. diet ice tea, diet fruit syrup, diet sports drinks, etc.)’ Local examples provided	Typical week over the previous month	Self-admin.	7 categories, ranging from ‘never/less than once a week’ to ‘4 or more times per day’	No
ISAAC study⁽ ⁶³ ^, ⁶⁴ ⁾*	Non-quantitative General questionnaire Eight-item FFQ One item on SSB	Test association between dietary factors, asthma and allergy	Children 8–12 years (parents or guardians as proxies)	‘Fizzy drinks’	Not stated	Self-admin.	5 categories, ranging from ‘never’ to ‘once per day or more often’	No
ToyBox⁽ ⁸² ^, ⁸³ ⁾* Children’s FFQ	Semi-quantitative Forty-four-item FFQ Two items on SSB	Measure the effectiveness of an intervention to prevent obesity	Children 3·5–5·5 years (parents or guardians as proxies)	‘Sugared beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite, Nestea)’ ‘Fruit juice, pre-packed/bottled’	12 months	Self-admin.	6 categories, ranging from ‘1–3 days per month’ to ‘every day’	Yes Assessed separately Subjects asked to select from a range of portion for each food, e.g. from ‘100 ml or less’ to ‘1000 ml or more’. Examples of corresponding portions in grams or millilitres provided for each food item Photo book included in appendix

CNSHS, Cross National Student Health Survey; ENERGY, EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth; ESCAREL, European Study in Non-Carious Cervical Lesions; HAPIEE, Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe; MEDIS, MEDiterranean Islands Study; MGSD, Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes; HBSC, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children; HELENA, Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence; TEMPEST, ‘Temptations to Eat Moderated by Personal and Environmental Self-regulatory Tools’; IDEFICS, Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS; ISAAC, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood; EBRB, energy balance-related behaviours; F&V, fruits and vegetables; NR, not reported; self-admin., self-administered.

Original instrument was obtained for review.

^†

Information on the Food4Me instrument was obtained through contact with study authors.