Evidence of the validity of the Food and Nutritional Security Scale for adolescents (ESANa)

This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale for assessing food and nutritional insecurity, specifically in adolescents. The initial version of the scale consisted of two subscales: perception of food insecurity and perception of nutritional security. The items were submitted to content analysis (n = 4) by a group of food and nutrition security experts, and semantic analysis (n = 20) by a group of adolescents conveniently sampled from the target population. After adjustments, the final version of the scale was applied to adolescent students (n = 425) aged 12 to 18 years (m = 14.32±0.96; CV = 6.7%). A two-factor model was the most appropriate after performing exploratory factor analysis. The subscales showed modest values of the alpha coefficient (0.69 and 0.60, respectively). Daily consumption of fruits, vegetables and soft drinks was significantly associated with higher scores in the food and nutrition security perception scale. Therefore, it is recommended to combine food access-based items with other aspects related to attitudes and behaviors towards healthy eating in order to achieve a more accurate picture of adolescent's needs and better guide public policies.