DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OFFOOD AND NUTRITION LITERACY ASSESSMENT TOOL (FNLAT) FOR IRANIAN HIGH-SCHOOL GRADUATES

Background and Aim: Food and nutrition literacy (FNL) is a recently emerged concept which concentrates on the personal knowledge and skills about food and nutrition. Promotion of FNL can lead to healthier dietary intake and more sustainable food choices. This study aimed to develop and validate a food and nutrition literacy assessment tool (FNLAT) for High-school graduates.Methods: In order to develop and validate FNLAT, 6 steps were fallowed: first, FNL components for Iranian school leavers were identified through literature review and interview with experts. Consensus about final FNL components was achieved using Delphi method. Item generation, Assessment of content validity and Assessment of face validity were the following steps. In the next step, Construct validity of the questionnaire was evaluated through applying Explanatory Factor Analyses (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA). Reliability of the FNLAT was also assessed as the final step of this study.Results: Two domains (knowledge and skills) and four dimensions for FNL were identified. Content validity index for whole scale was 0.935 which confirm the content validity of the scale. EFA suggested one factor in knowledge domain (Food and nutrition knowledge) and a 5 factor construct in skill domain (Functional skills, Interactive skills, advocacy passion, critical analysis of information, food label reading skills). In CFA, The fit indexes of the model show acceptable fit and confirmed construct validity of FNLAT (X2/df = 1.58, RAMSE = 0.041; p= 1.00, RMR = 0.034, GFI = 0.79).Conclusion: The developed FNLAT is a valid and reliable tool to assess FNL of Iranian high school graduates.