Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective To assess internal consistency and content validity of a questionnaire aimed to assess the stages of Behavioural Lifestyle Changes in a sample of school-aged children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years-old. Methods This validation study involved 675 schoolchildren from three official school in the city of Bogota, Colombia. A self-administered questionnaire called Behavioural Lifestyle Changes has been designed to explore stages of change regarding to physical activity/exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and drug abuse. Cronbach-α, Kappa index and exploratory factor analysis were used for evaluating the internal consistency and validity of content, respectively. Results The study population consisted of 51.1% males and the participants’ average age was 12.7±2.4 years-old. Behavioural Lifestyle Changes scored 0.720 (range 0.691 to 0.730) on the Cronbach α and intra-observer reproducibility was good (Kappa=0.71). Exploratory factor analysis determined two factors (factor 1: physical activity/exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, and factor 2: alcohol abuse tobacco use and drug abuse), explaining 67.78% of variance by the items and six interactions χ2/gL=11649.833; p<0.001. Conclusion Behavioural Lifestyle Changes Questionnaire was seen to have suitable internal consistency and validity. This instrument can be recommended, mainly within the context of primary attention for studying the stages involved in the lifestyle behavioural changes model on a school-based population.
Highlights
Lifestyle is defined as “The set of individual behaviors that show some consistency over time, under more or less constant conditions, and which can be dimensions of risk or safety depending on their nature” [1]
Behavioural Lifestyle Changes Questionnaire was seen to have suitable internal consistency and validity. This instrument can be recommended, mainly within the context of primary attention for studying the stages involved in the lifestyle behavioural changes model on a school-based population
Several authors have discussed the concept of Healthy Lifestyles (HLS), reaching the conclusion that these are composed of health-related behavior patterns [1,2,3]
Summary
Lifestyle is defined as “The set of individual behaviors that show some consistency over time, under more or less constant conditions, and which can be dimensions of risk or safety depending on their nature” [1]. Several authors have discussed the concept of Healthy Lifestyles (HLS), reaching the conclusion that these are composed of health-related behavior patterns [1,2,3]. In 2009, Stanner [3] described that individual conduct and/or behaviors have a significant effect on health insofar as being favorable or unfavorable. Several health agencies [4,5] encourage behaviors that stimulate the adoption of an HLS from the early stages of life [6].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
