{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T13:35:04Z","timestamp":1791293704890,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]],"date-time":"2025-11-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764288000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"European Union-Next Generation EU","award":["PE0000003"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PE0000003"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of University and Research","award":["CUP D93C22000890001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CUP D93C22000890001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: There is a lack of food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) specifically designed to assess food consumption based on processing levels in younger populations. This study evaluates the validity and the reliability of a 107-item FFQ (NFFQ-Kids) in estimating the intake (g\/day) and the weight and energy ratios of Nova groups in Italian children and adolescents aged 2\u201318 years. Methods: The NFFQ-Kids was administered twice (T0 and T1), with a four-week interval. A total of 73 participants completed the questionnaire at T0, and 53 completed it at T1. Participants were selected from the ICARO Study (December 2023\u2013April 2024), a web-based cohort study in Southern Italy. Questionnaire validity was assessed by comparison with a 3-day food record (two weekdays and one weekend day) collected between the two NFFQ-Kids administrations. Test\u2013retest reliability was evaluated to assess the consistency of the questionnaire over time. Results: A moderate correlation was found between the NFFQ-Kids and the 3-day food record for the energy ratio of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) (r = 0.48; p &lt; 0.001; ICC = 0.46; 95% CI 0.29\u20130.64) and the weight ratio for both unprocessed or minimally processed foods (r = 0.49; p &lt; 0.001; ICC = 0.50; 95%CI 0.33\u20130.66) and ultra-processed foods (UPFs) (r = 0.58; p &lt; 0.001; ICC = 0.58; 95%CI 0.42\u20130.72). Overall, the NFFQ-Kids showed good test\u2013retest reliability across all Nova group intakes, total food, and relative energy and weight ratios of UPFs (r = 0.71, ICC = 0.67; and r = 0.79, ICC = 0.67, respectively), indicating stable measurements over time. Conclusions: The NFFQ-Kids demonstrated acceptable validity and good reliability, proving useful for assessing food intake by processing level in Italian youth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17233751","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,3]],"date-time":"2025-12-03T10:34:01Z","timestamp":1764758041000},"page":"3751","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Validity and Reliability of a Food Frequency Questionnaire (NFFQ-Kids) to Assess Food Consumption Based on the Nova Classification in Southern Italian Children and Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2463-5321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nadia","family":"Paladino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-3550-7987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Di Costanzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo IRCCS NEUROMED, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7109-1128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilia","family":"Ruggiero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo IRCCS NEUROMED, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Augusto","family":"Di Castelnuovo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo IRCCS NEUROMED, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7630-265X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marika","family":"Dello Russo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Food Sciences, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 83100 Avellino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7328-3716","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annarita","family":"Formisano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Food Sciences, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 83100 Avellino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1663-1582","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Lauria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Food Sciences, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 83100 Avellino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Walter","family":"Currenti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0644-0755","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Galvano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"},{"name":"College of Health Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyad 11564, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3930-5285","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Grosso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"},{"name":"Center for Human Nutrition and Mediterranean Foods (NUTREA), University of Catania, 95124 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0514-5885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Licia","family":"Iacoviello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo IRCCS NEUROMED, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Medicine and Surgery, LUM University, 70010 Casamassima, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8082-6552","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marialaura","family":"Bonaccio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo IRCCS NEUROMED, 86077 Pozzilli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e13126","DOI":"10.1111\/obr.13126","article-title":"Ultra-processed foods and the nutrition transition: Global, regional and national trends, food systems transformations and political economy drivers","volume":"21","author":"Baker","year":"2020","journal-title":"Obes. 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