A Practical Kitchen-Based Validation of the Food Skills Section of a Food Literacy Questionnaire for 9–10 Year Old Children

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Food skills are complex, and questionnaire items are often an oversimplification, however, the use of such items would be strengthened if questionnaire scores were shown to predict directly-measured abilities. This study was a practical validation in a kitchen setting of the food skills section of a food literacy questionnaire for children aged 9–11 years. Methods Children were recruited from either a low or high socioeconomic primary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. Children completed the food skills section of the questionnaire, and a week later, participated in a 60 minute kitchen session with activities developed from the questionnaire designed to assess food skills and knowledge identified in the literature as important for children. These were: safely peeling and chopping, using a grater, using measuring equipment, being able to understand and follow cooking instructions, knowing what common kitchen equipment is used for, boiling common foods and knowing when they are cooked, knowing what foods need cooking before consumption, and knowing the key components of a meal. Results Thirty children with a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (0.5) years took part in the study. The total scores for both assessments were strongly correlated (r = 0.82, P < 0.001). Cross-classification analysis found 70% of children grouped in the lowest tertile for the questionnaire were also in the lowest tertile for the kitchen session, with 60% maintaining their position in the highest tertile; one child was grossly misclassified. Questionnaire items (grouped by food literacy sub-component) and kitchen station components were moderately correlated (r > 0.6) for: “knowledge of ingredients in common meals”, “ability to cook some foods from different food groups” and “ability to identify and use different pieces of kitchen equipment” (P < 0.001 for all three). Conclusions The food skills section of the food literacy questionnaire was a valid approximation of actual food knowledge and skills for this age-group. Designing practical food skills assessment activities from corresponding questionnaires and underlying food literacy theory may be useful for validating food literacy questionnaires developed for other populations. Funding Sources University of Otago.