Adolescents' attitudes towards healthy eating: A scale development study

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Psychometrics
• Nutrition Science

Background:

• Assessing adolescent attitudes toward healthy eating is vital for developing effective public health interventions.
• Existing measurement tools may lack the reliability and validity required for this specific demographic.
• A robust tool is needed to accurately capture the nuances of adolescent dietary perceptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a measurement tool for assessing attitudes toward healthy eating in adolescents.
• To ensure the tool is both reliable and valid for use in research and clinical settings.
• To provide a standardized method for evaluating adolescent dietary behaviors and perceptions.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory sequential design was employed with a study group of 1,006 adolescents (aged 11-17).
• Item pool generation involved semi-structured interviews and the Davis Technique for content validity.
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted using SPSS and Lisrel.

Main Results:

• EFA yielded a 4-factor, 18-item structure explaining 59.05% of the variance.
• CFA confirmed good model fit (X2/df=1.65, RMSEA=.040) with factor loadings from .43 to .81.
• Reliability analyses (Cronbach's Alpha, Spearman-Brown, Guttman Lambda-6) indicated strong internal consistency and validity.

Conclusions:

• The developed scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring adolescents' attitudes toward healthy eating.
• This tool can be effectively used in research and practice to understand and promote healthy dietary habits among young people.
• The findings support the use of this scale for future studies on adolescent nutrition and well-being.