title: The validation of a food label literacy questionnaire for elementary school children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the reliability and validity of a 10-item questionnaire, the Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were elementary school children exposed to a 90-minute school-based nutrition program. Reliability was assessed via Cronbach α and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was assessed comparing the questionnaire's food choices using an objective metric of nutrition quality, the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), via t test. Statistical significance was set at .05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred ninety-nine children participated, 51% were female, and the average age was 8.6 (± 0.9) years. Cronbach α = .77 and ICC = 0.68 (between administrations) were observed. ONQI scores of correct responses were significantly higher when compared to the ONQI scores of incorrect responses (27.4 ± 9.4 vs 16.2 ± 9.4; P = .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire was found to be both reliable and a valid measure of food label literacy in children taught the Nutrition Detectives program.
authors.affiliation: Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Derby, CT 06418, USA.
authors.forename: Jesse S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: Judith A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Treu
authors.forename: Valentine
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Njike
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Catherine S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D052756:Nutritional Sciences; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*