Performance of semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires in international comparisons Mexico City versus San Antonio, Texas

International dietary comparisons present a number of methodologic difficulties. We developed two semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires for use in Mexico City and San Antonio, Texas. The Mexico City questionnaire contained 85 food items and the San Antonio questionnaire contained 108. Thirty-six items were common to both questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 128 Mexican Americans, 35 to 64 years old, residing in a low-income barrio neighborhood of San Antonio and to 644 similarly aged Mexicans residing in a low-income "colonia" of Mexico City. Major differences in fat and carbohydrate intake as a percent of total kilocalories were observed between the two study groups, with Mexico City residents consuming approximately 18 to 21% of calories from fat and 68 to 72% from carbohydrate compared to 29 to 33% from fat and 48 to 52% from carbohydrate for Mexican Americans from San Antonio. Both of these differences were highly statistically significant (P < 0.001). A number of arguments support the validity of these findings. First, the distribution of high- and low-fat foods was similar on both questionnaires. Also, of the top-ten foods (as contributors to total kilocalorie intake) in San Antonio, seven were high in fat (>30% of kilocalories), whereas this was true of only three of the top-ten foods in Mexico City.