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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
Published on: June 5, 2016
Validity of a competing food choice construct regarding fruit and vegetable consumption among urban college freshmen
Ming-Chin Yeh1, Brandy Matsumori, Janel Obenchain
1Nutrition and Food Science Track, Urban Public Health Program, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA. myeh@hunter.cuny.edu
Objective:
This paper presents the reliability and validity of a "competing food choice" construct designed to assess whether factors related to consumption of less-healthful food were perceived to be barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption in college freshmen.
Design:
Cross-sectional, self-administered survey.
Setting:
An urban public college with a large, diverse student population.
Participants:
A convenience sample of 408 college freshmen.
Variables Measured:
A "competing food choice" construct and fruit and vegetable intake.
Analyses:
Factor analysis, Cronbach α, and correlation coefficients were used to determine the reliability and validity of the construct.
Results:
Three factors were produced from the factor analysis of the 11-item competing food choice construct: "competitive food" barriers (Cronbach alpha = 0.73), fruit and vegetable-related "time" barriers (Cronbach alpha = 0.67), and "quality" barriers (Cronbach alpha = 0.64). Construct validity assessments revealed significant inverse correlations between fruit and vegetable consumption and competitive food barriers (r = -0.15, P < .01 current and r = -0.25, P < .01 prior) and time barriers (r = -0.12, P < .05 current and r = -0.10, P < .05 prior).
Conclusions And Implications:
This "competing food choice" construct demonstrated satisfactory reliability and construct validity among college freshmen.
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