Social determinants of fruit and vegetable intake and validation of?Pro-Children Eating Habits Questionnaire?for 3rd?and 5th?grade children

摘要

BACKGROUND:? The Pro Children Eating Habits Questionnaire has been evaluated as a valid and reliable tool in Europe to measure determinants of fruit and vegetable intake for children; however, it has not been validation for United States populations. The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the reliability and discrimination validity of fruit and vegetable correlates for the Pro Children Eating Habits Questionnaire; (2) investigate the predictive validity of determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption for multi-ethnic elementary school children; and, (3) to assess the association of social determinants with fruit and vegetable consumption.? METHODS:? One hundred and thirty elementary school students from the 3rd and 5th grades completed this cross-sectional study.? RESULTS: Fruit and vegetable determinants, had satisfactory internal consistencies. No differences were found between the test and the retest for the individual questions with the exception of the question for mean perceived vegetable intake.? The discriminatory validity indicated the questionnaire could show differences across grade and gender levels for barriers of fruit and vegetables but not for other factors.? Grade together with gender explained barriers to eating fruit and vegetables.? Greater availability of fruit in the home and school was associated with higher frequency of consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate the Pro-Children Eating Habits Questionnaire may be a reliable and valid tool for assessing fruit and vegetable consumption of children in the United States. Background The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 recommends children over 2 years of age increase their intake of fruits and vegetables.1 Despite the fact that fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber, many children in the United States are not fulfilling their daily requirements.2,3 Krebs-Smith et al. reported that less than 20% of children are consuming five servings of fruit, and vegetables on a daily basis. 3 Health behavior learned in childhood has been associated with fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) in adulthood.3-5 Interventions to increase FVC consumption during childhood may have a lifelong impact on their quality of life. Currently, nutrition interventions have only been reasonably successful in promoting the sustained intake of adequate amounts of FVC.6 Instruments assessing FVC should include psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to diet.6 Food frequency questionnaires have been shown to be valid and reliable instrument for collecting self-reported data in children as young as eight years old.7-10 Given this rationale, the Pro Children Project designed a specific food frequency instrument to measure FVC intakes in children throughout Europe, without the assistance of administrators or parents.11 To examine psychosocial and environmental determinants of FVC consumption patterns among children, the Pro Children Project applied the Social Cognitive theory (SCT).12 The developers of the project applied SCT, which proposes that determinants of health-related behavior can be influenced by the cultural, physical, and social environment, to FVC in children.6 Few investigations regarding determinants of FVC have been conducted among children.12-14 The Pro Children Eating Habits Questionnaire dietary has been evaluated as a valid and reliable tool in Europe13; however, it has not been validation for United States populations. The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the reliability and discrimination validity of fruit and vegetable correlates for the Pro Children Eating Habits Questionnaire; (2) investigate the predictive validity of determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) for multi-ethnic elementary school children in the US; and, (3) to assess the association of social determinants with fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods Participants, Procedure, DesignThe