Development and Validation of the Young Adult Nutrition Literacy Tool

Abstract

ObjectiveTo create a tool to measure college students’ functional, interactive, and critical nutrition literacy. Design(1) Focus group: item generation, (2) expert review, (3) exploratory factor structure analysis, (4) item refinement and modification, (5) factor structure validation, and (6) criterion validation. SettingTwo land-grant college campuses. ParticipantsCollege students aged between 18 and 24 years. Main Outcome MeasuresSurvey data was used to assess nutrition literacy. AnalysisExploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), item response theory (IRT) analyses, and correlations. ResultsOne-hundred and twenty-three items were generated and tested in an online survey format. Items were eliminated on the basis of face validity, expert feedback, exploratory factor analysis, and CFA/IRT. The 3 measures (functional, interactive, and critical) were analyzed separately. All 3 measures showed reasonable model fit in the CFA/IRT models. Criterion validity showed small to medium effect sizes between measures and fruit/vegetable intake. Reliability estimates met reasonable standards for each measure. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe Young Adult Nutrition Literacy Tool is a novel instrument that measures all 3 domains of nutrition literacy. Strengths include a rigorous 6-step development process, reasonable psychometric properties, and a large breadth of items.