Measuring nutrition attitude among university students

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Education
• Psychometrics
• Attitude Measurement

Background:

• Assessing student attitudes towards nutrition is crucial for effective education.
• Existing scales may have limitations in scope or language.
• A validated instrument is needed to measure nutrition attitudes accurately.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new scale measuring university students' attitudes toward nutrition.
• To create a reliable and valid instrument for nutrition education research.
• To ensure the scale avoids nutrition knowledge assessment and sexist language.

Main Methods:

• Modeled the Attitude Toward Nutrition Scale (ATNS) on the Carruth and Anderson scale.
• Established content validity through an expert review panel.
• Assessed criterion-related validity by correlating ATNS scores with the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale.
• Determined reliability using coefficient alpha and split-half estimates.

Main Results:

• Content validity was confirmed by experts.
• Criterion-related validity indicated a reasonable construct relationship with dogmatism.
• Reliability was high, with coefficient alpha at 0.84 and split-half reliability at 0.86.
• The final scale omits nutrition knowledge items and sexist language.

Conclusions:

• The Attitude Toward Nutrition Scale (ATNS) is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing university students' nutrition attitudes.
• The ATNS provides a focused measure of attitude, distinct from knowledge.
• The scale's inclusive language enhances its applicability in diverse educational settings.