Vegetable and fruit intake and factors influencing their intake.
OBJECTIVE
A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and an attitude/behaviour questionnaire (ABQ) were developed, and their validity and reliability were tested to determine adolescents' vegetable and fruit (VF) intakes and factors influencing their food choices.


METHODS
High school students living in the lower mainland of British Columbia participated. The FFQ was adapted from the National Cancer Institute VF By-Meal screener, which was designed to be used with adults. After several focus groups with adolescents, the FFQ was revised to make it more user-friendly. The ABQ was developed after a literature review of factors influencing youth VF intake, and was based on the constructs within the Health Belief Model.


RESULTS
The FFQ was validated against a written 24-hour dietary record (correlation coefficient = 0.52). The test-retest reliability coefficient for the FFQ was 0.46. A panel of experts tested the ABQ construct validity, and changes were made as a result of the recommendations. Internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability of the ABQ were 0.71 and 0.59, respectively. Both questionnaires were tested for face validity with students and revised accordingly.


CONCLUSIONS
Further validation of these two questionnaires against other standardized tools is required. Future studies with adolescents using these tools can guide program and resource development.
Li
Liming
L
Institute of Biotechnology, Northeastern University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China.
Levy-Milne
Ryna
R
D000293:Adolescent; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D001955:British Columbia; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014675:Vegetables