Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the healthy eating literacy (HEL) scale among Japanese adults.
Methods: The cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted via the Internet in December 2010. The participants were 6045 Japanese male and female adults(20- 59 years) who were registered with a social research company. Construct validity was estimated from confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity. Criterion-related validity was determined by examining the relationship between HEL and the stages of change. The reliability was evaluated by assessing the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and a 14-days test-retest(n=100).
Results: Totally, 1252 respondents completed the survey (response rate: 20.7%). The good goodness-of-fit indices were obtained using the confirmatory factor analysis (GFI=0.988, AGFI=0.957, CFI=0.990, RMSEA=0.080). Analysis of Covariance revealed that HEL was positively associated with the stages of change (F=19.7, p<0.001). Both the internal consistency (α=0.87) and the test-retest reliability (r=0.742, p<0.001) were good.
Conclusions: This study indicated the reliability and validity of the proposed scale to evaluate HEL among Japanese adults.
