Development and Reliability Testing of a Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire for Australian Children (the CNK-AU)

Abstract

ObjectiveTo adapt and test an existing questionnaire to assess Australian children's level of nutrition knowledge. DesignThe child nutrition knowledge questionnaire for Australian children consists of 8 nutrition-related categories: healthy choices, portion and serving sizes, balanced meals, nutrition labels, nutrient functions, and food sources, safety, and categories. Participants completed the questionnaire at 2 time points, with 1 week in between. SettingThe questionnaire was completed online in a primary school classroom using an Android tablet. ParticipantsFifth- and sixth-year students (n = 94; aged 10.9 years; SD, 0.76) at a primary school in New South Wales, Australia. Variables MeasuredItem difficulty, item discrimination, and reliability. AnalysisItem analysis, interrater reliability, and test-retests. ResultsThe intrarater reliability per item between the first visit and 1 week later was moderate to substantial for the majority of items (mean κ = 0.50; SD, 0.21). Test-retest found a significant correlation for total score (r = 0.756), with all categories except portion and serving sizes showing significant correlations above r = 0.502. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe child nutrition knowledge questionnaire for Australian children has the potential to be a reliable and practical questionnaire for measuring Australian children's nutrition knowledge. The questionnaire may be useful for future work evaluating the effectiveness of nutrition education interventions and would potentially be adapted to other cultures.