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Epidemiology

Measuring practical knowledge about balanced meals: development and validation of the brief PKB-7 scale

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 70, pages 505–510 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

As a high-quality diet is associated with a lower risk for several diseases and all-cause mortality, current nutrition education tools provide people with information regarding how to build a healthy and a balanced meal. To assess this basic nutrition knowledge, the research aim was to develop and validate a brief scale to measure the Practical Knowledge about Balanced meals (PKB-7).

Subjects/Methods:

A pool of 25 items was pretested with experts and laypeople before being tested on a random sample in Switzerland (n=517). For item selection, a Rasch model analysis was applied. The validity and reliability of the new scale were assessed by three additional studies including laypeople (n=597; n=145) and nutrition experts (n=59).

Results:

The final scale consists of seven multiple-choice items, which met the assumptions of the Rasch model. The validity of the new scale was shown by several aspects: the Rasch model was replicated in a second study, and nutrition experts achieved significantly higher scores than laypeople (t(148)=20.27, P<0.001, d=1.78). In addition, the PKB-7 scale was correlated with other nutrition-related constructs and associated with reported vegetable consumption. Test–retest reliability (r=0.68, P<0.001) was acceptable.

Conclusions:

The PKB-7 scale is a reliable and a valid Rasch-based instrument in Swiss citizens aged between 18 and 80 years for measuring the practical knowledge about balanced meals based on current dietary guidelines. This brief and easy-to-use scale is intended for application in both research and practice.

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Acknowledgements

The present research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant number: 406940_145143/1). We thank the Swiss Society for Nutrition (SSN) for their professional support during the item generation process and are grateful to all people who participated in our studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consumer Behavior, Institute of Environmental Decisions (IED), Zurich, Switzerland

    S Mötteli, J Barbey, C Keller & M Siegrist

  2. School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia

    T Bucher

Authors
  1. S Mötteli
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  2. J Barbey
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  3. C Keller
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  4. T Bucher
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  5. M Siegrist
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Correspondence to S Mötteli.

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Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

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Mötteli, S., Barbey, J., Keller, C. et al. Measuring practical knowledge about balanced meals: development and validation of the brief PKB-7 scale. Eur J Clin Nutr 70, 505–510 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2015.173

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