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Nutrition Questionnaire Service Center

Access Harvard’s semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and nutrient database—the result of over forty years of continued development, evaluation, and refinement.

Filling out a food frequency questionnaire

Overview

The Department of Nutrition’s semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and nutrient database is the result of over forty years of continued development, evaluation, refinement, and re-evaluation. More recently, the database has expanded to include environmental impact metrics for many of the food items listed in the FFQ.

Although these resources were developed for our own research purposes, we have made them available for other investigators. This extended use has helped to better define the scope and limits of the methodology, and has also provided direct information on the degree of validity in different populations and with various methods of administration. With each iteration of these materials we strive to maintain the same level of data quality for external users we would for our own research.

Guidelines for Use

The Nutrition Questionnaire Service Center is not organized as a full service group. Due to the volume of interest, we have provided detailed information to help guide investigators through the use of these resources. For routine FFQ processing, this operates quite smoothly. Please read through the guidance on this page carefully (including the most frequently asked questions) and download/print the documentation for reference.

Contact

Email ffqorder@hsph.harvard.edu to order blank questionnaires or to submit FFQs for analysis.

  • For general questions, contact Laura Sampson Kent, Senior Research Dietitian in the Department of Nutrition
  • For billing questions contact Lauren Wolfert Dougherty, Senior Research Dietetic Manager in the Department of Nutrition

Nutrient Data

Download the nutrient data tables used to analyze the FFQ:

Please note: We do not have the capacity to answer questions about the data provided. Extensive quality assurance procedures have been applied to the tables; we hope you find them satisfactory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Completing the FFQs

Mailing and payment

WinZip files and access

Calculating servings

Self-coders and/or editors for large studies

Validation articles and nutrient database reference


Environmental Data

This database includes four environmental impact metrics – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, irrigation water use, nitrogen use, and high-quality cropland use – for the 156 food items listed in the FFQ of the 2011 Nurses’ Health Study II.

For the 2022 publication in the Lancet Planetary Health – “Health and environmental impacts of plant-rich dietary patterns: A U.S. prospective cohort study” by Musicus et. al – this data was leveraged to characterize the environmental impacts as compared to the health impacts of four dietary patterns within a longitudinal U.S. cohort.

Please note: We do not have the capacity to answer questions about the data provided. The datasets include thorough documentation.