Abstract
Objective
To adapt and test an existing questionnaire to assess Australian children's level
of nutrition knowledge.
Design
The child nutrition knowledge questionnaire for Australian children consists of 8
nutrition-related categories: healthy choices, portion and serving sizes, balanced
meals, nutrition labels, nutrient functions, and food sources, safety, and categories.
Participants completed the questionnaire at 2 time points, with 1 week in between.
Setting
The questionnaire was completed online in a primary school classroom using an Android
tablet.
Participants
Fifth- and sixth-year students (n = 94; aged 10.9 years; SD, 0.76) at a primary school
in New South Wales, Australia.
Variables Measured
Item difficulty, item discrimination, and reliability.
Analysis
Item analysis, interrater reliability, and test-retests.
Results
The intrarater reliability per item between the first visit and 1 week later was moderate
to substantial for the majority of items (mean κ = 0.50; SD, 0.21). Test-retest found
a significant correlation for total score (r = 0.756), with all categories except portion and serving sizes showing significant
correlations above r = 0.502.
Conclusions and Implications
The child nutrition knowledge questionnaire for Australian children has the potential
to be a reliable and practical questionnaire for measuring Australian children's nutrition
knowledge. The questionnaire may be useful for future work evaluating the effectiveness
of nutrition education interventions and would potentially be adapted to other cultures.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 19, 2022
Accepted:
October 8,
2021
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
