A multidimensional scale for evaluating food inflation's impact on nutritional behavior

Food inflation is considered an important factor that affects communities overall and individuals. Evaluating the impact of food inflation on nutrition behavior, particularly among low-income and disadvantaged groups, is crucial for assessing consequences and implementing effective solutions. This research was conducted to develop a scale of the effect of food inflation on nutrition behavior.

This research was conducted with adults (n = 275) aged 19-64 years who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study and shop for food. The items were evaluated for content validity in accordance with the Lawshe method. The scale items were determined via exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and an internal consistency coefficient. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and correlation analysis were performed in SPSS 26.0; confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed in IBM AMOS 24.0. The statistical significance level was accepted as p < 0.05.

The resulting scale consists of a total of 36 items, and as a result of the analysis, it is divided into four different subdimensions (food consumption, food insecurity, panic buying, budget). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of the scale was determined to be 0.960. p < 0,001 according to Bartlett's sphericity test. According to the explained variance results of the scale, the 4 dimensions of the scale explained 69.8% of the total variance. The factor loadings of the scale vary between 0,407 and 0,917. According to the confirmatory factor analysis results of the scale, the good fit values of the single-factor model consisting of 36 items are χ2 = 2083.903, df = 458, χ2/df = 4,55, TLI = 0,81, CFI = 0,82, and IFI = 0,82, which was obtained as SRMR = 0,06. The item factor loadings were greater than 0.30 and had values between 0.349 and 0.965. The item t values ranged between 4,599 and 16,791 (p < 0,001; t > 1,96).

A valid and reliable measurement tool that determines the effect of food inflation on nutritional behavior was developed. Food inflation is considered an important factor that affects the community overall and individuals.