Background
Given the growing problem of overweight among school-aged children in Panama, understanding their food related knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and behaviors (KAPB) through valid, reliable and culturally appropriate instruments is critical in addressing in a more comprehensive way the obesity epidemic.
Objective
To describe the development and validation of an instrument to assess food related KAPB in school children in Panama, which used as a conceptual foundation the recent national Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs).
Study Design, Settings, Participants
The instrument development and validation consisted on the following three-stage process: conceptualization and construction of the instrument, primarily based on the Panamá FBDGs; expert reviews (n = 6); and phsycometric testing, including internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis. For the psychometric testing, the sample size included 248 school-age children of 7-13 years old, from five elementary schools in Panama West Province.
Measurable Outcome/Analysis
A valid, reliable and culturally appropriate instrument to assess healthy eating related KAPB in school-children in Panama.
Results
The adequacy of the sample was acceptable of 0.8052, determined by The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index. The CFA yield four factors related to healthy eating habits and lifestyles, with good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha > 0.5).
Conclusion
This study provides a tested instrument, with acceptable psychometric properties, which can be potentially used to measure healthy eating habits and lifestyles in school-age children in Panama within the context of multi-sectoral childhood obesity prevention programs.
Funding: UNFAO.
Appendix. Supplementary data
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Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc.
