Validation of a revised General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire for Australia

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Public Health
• Health Education

Background:

• Nutrition knowledge is crucial for disease prevention and health promotion.
• The existing Australian nutrition knowledge questionnaire required updating due to changes in national guidelines and food availability.
• Previous validation of the Australian questionnaire occurred in 2008, necessitating a contemporary assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate a revised nutrition knowledge questionnaire for use in Australia.
• To ensure the questionnaire accurately reflects current Australian nutrition recommendations and food environment.
• To provide a reliable tool for assessing nutrition knowledge across different demographics.

Main Methods:

• Content validity assessed by academic dietitians (n=8).
• Face validity evaluated by retail employees (n=11).
• Construct validity and test-retest reliability tested with undergraduate nutrition and engineering students (n=93 and n=19).

Main Results:

• The refined questionnaire (AUS-R NKQ) demonstrated high internal reliability (α=0.92) and test-retest reliability (ICC2,1=0.99).
• Nutrition students scored significantly higher than engineering students, indicating construct validity.
• The questionnaire successfully differentiated between individuals with varying levels of nutrition knowledge.

Conclusions:

• The AUS-R NKQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing nutrition knowledge in Australia.
• This validated questionnaire is suitable for evaluating nutrition knowledge interventions in public health programs.
• The AUS-R NKQ can be utilized by clinicians and researchers to measure nutrition knowledge effectively.