Development, validity, and reliability assessment of the Canadian Food Literacy Measure.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Health Education

Background:

• Existing food literacy measures often overlook food systems and socio-environmental factors.
• There is a lack of validated food literacy tools specifically for the Canadian population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a brief, self-administered measure of food literacy in English and French for Canadian adults.
• To assess multiple dimensions of food literacy, encompassing nutrition, food skills, food systems, and socio-environmental aspects.

Main Methods:

• Iterative development including expert review and cognitive interviews for face and content validity.
• Online survey with 154 participants to assess construct validity and reliability (internal consistency).
• Statistical analyses examined differences by demographics and correlation with fruit and vegetable intake.

Main Results:

• The 23-item Canadian Food Literacy Measure demonstrated good understanding among English and French speakers.
• Construct validity was supported by significant differences in scores based on gender, age, education, health literacy, and smoking status.
• High internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.80) and a positive correlation with fruit and vegetable intake were observed.

Conclusions:

• The Canadian Food Literacy Measure is a valid and reliable tool for assessing multifaceted food literacy in Canadian adults.
• This measure can be utilized in surveillance and epidemiological studies to understand food literacy's impact on health outcomes.
• The tool addresses a critical gap in assessing comprehensive food literacy within the Canadian context.