Development and validation of a questionnaire to evaluate lifestyle-related behaviors in elementary school children

Abstract

BackgroundThe SI! Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions. We report here the development and validation of the KAH (knowledge, attitudes and habits)-questionnaire adapted for elementary school children (6–7 years old) as a tool for the forthcoming evaluation of the SI! Program, where the KAH scoring will be the primary outcome. The efficacy of such an intervention will be based on the improvements in children’s KAH towards a healthy lifestyle.MethodsThe questionnaire validation process started with a pool of items proposed by the pedagogical team who developed the SI! Program for elementary school. The questionnaire was finalized by decreasing the number of items from 155 to 48 using expert panels and statistical tests on the responses from 384 children (ages 6–7). A team of specialized psychologists administered the questionnaire at schools providing standard directions for the final administration. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficients. Reliability was measured through the split-half method, and problematic items were detected applying the item response theory. Analysis of variance and Tukey’s test of additivity were used for multiple comparisons.ResultsThe final KAH-questionnaire for elementary school children should be administered to children individually by trained staff. The 48 items-questionnaire is divided evenly between the 4 components of the intervention, with an overall Cronbach’s α = 0.791 (α = 0.526 for diet, α = 0.537 for physical activity, α = 0.523 for human body and heart, and α = 0.537 for management of emotions).ConclusionsThe KAH-questionnaire is a reliable instrument to assess the efficacy of the SI! Program on instilling healthy lifestyle-related behaviors in elementary school children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2248-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lifestyle Screening Tools for Children in the Community Setting: A Systematic Review

“…We included two systematic reviews [ 14 , 17 ], yielding no additional screening tools for inclusion. The other 46 articles [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ] described 41 unique screening tools. The majority of the included articles reported on the development and validation of screening tools, whereas their implementation was rarely addressed.…”

“…Although not always explicitly stated in the tool’s aim, articles mostly described that the tool focused on factors associated with obesity risk. Ten screening tools were distinctively designed for toddlers (1–3 years old) or preschoolers (3–5 years old) [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] and another nine for school-aged children (6–12 y) [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Fourteen tools were described as either designed for children in general or did not specify the children’s target age (0–18 y) [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ].…”

“…These visuals included portion sizes and images to make the tool more appealing. The time needed to complete the tool was reported for only thirteen tools [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 30 , 31 , 34 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 47 , 52 , 60 , 63 ]. From those who reported the time, the time needed ranged from 3 [ 18 , 19 , 20 ] to 90 [ 37 ] minutes; six tools could be completed within 15 min [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 31 , 38 , 40 , 52 ].…”

Validity and Reliability of a Behavior Assessment Questionnaire for Children with Obesity

“…10 whose members include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, reveals a gap: limitations of registry measures include length, 11,12 focus on parenting strategies and self-efficacy rather than child behavior, 13,14 or are not self-administered. 15 One questionnaire was short and self-administered but evaluated on a small sample of 35 general pediatric patients. 16 To address the need for a behavior assessment questionnaire to supplement the anthropometric measure, the 10-item Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (BAQ) was developed.…”

Primary School Boys And Girls` Attitude Towards Their Health

“…A group of scientists (Santos-Beneit et al, 2015) developed a special questionnaire for primary school children based on observation; it allows to measure the degree to which their lifestyle can be considered healthy. The following indicators were taken into account in the questionnaire: diet, physical activity, understanding of body and heart, and management of emotions.…”