Selecting Items of a Food Behavior Checklist for the Development of Nutrition Quotient (NQ) for Children in Korea

Abstract

The objective of this study is to select a simple and easy measurable food behavior checklist for the development of Nutrition Quotient (NQ) for children, which reflects children's diet quality, as well as to evaluate the validity of the items in the food behavior checklist (FBC). The first 36 items in the checklist were selected by a literature review and the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. 341 children of 5th and 6th grades at an elementary school participated in a one‐day dietary record survey, and later responded to 36 food behavior questions of the checklist. Pearson's correlation coefficients between the responses to the FBC items along with the mean nutrient intakes of the children were calculated. From the result, a second checklist with 22 items was selected. A survey was conducted by using the second checklist. 1,393 children in the 5th and 6th grades in six large cities in Korea, participated in the survey. Further, an exploratory factor analysis was performed. After the analysis, 19 items were finalized as the FBC items for the NQ. The final 19 FBC items were composed of 5 factors: ‘Balance’, ‘Diversity’, ‘Moderation’, ‘Regularity’, and ‘Practice’. This study is a significant first trial to establish a comprehensive system for evaluating children's food habit and diet quality in Korea. (This research was supported by a grant from Amway Korea Ltd. in 2011.)