Nutrients, Vol. 17, Pages 1796: Hungarian Adaptation and Validation of the Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ-HU)
Nutrients doi: 10.3390/nu17111796
Authors:
Viola Keczeli
Andrea Gubicskóné Kisbenedek
Alexandra Makai
Zsófia Verzár
Background: Food literacy (FL) plays a crucial role in promoting healthy eating and sustainable food choices. The Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ) has been widely used to assess FL in different populations. Objective: This study aimed to adapt and validate the SFLQ in Hungarian (SFLQ-HU) and evaluate its psychometric properties among university students. Methods: The adaptation followed international guidelines, including forward- and back-translation, pre-testing, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, while criterion validity was tested through correlations with other health-related scales. For statistical analysis, IBM AMOS 26.0 and SPSS 28.0 software were used. Results: The survey involved 1325 (n = 1325) young adults in 2024. Overall, 76% of the sample were women (n = 1007), and 77.43% of the sample were under 25 years old (n = 1025). The FL level scored 36.47 points (SD: 7.53), with the highest score being 52 and the lowest score being 14.8. The SFLQ-HU demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.850) and a good fit for the one-factor structure in CFA. Test–retest reliability confirmed the stability of the instrument. Significant correlations were found between the SFLQ-HU and measures of health literacy (r = 0.197; p < 0.001), food choice motivations (r = 0.394; p < 0.001), and barriers to health behaviors (r = 0.353; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The SFLQ-HU is a reliable and valid tool for assessing food literacy of young Hungarian-speaking adults. It can facilitate future research and public health initiatives aimed at improving FL and promoting healthy dietary habits.
Background: Food literacy (FL) plays a crucial role in promoting healthy eating and sustainable food choices. The Short Food Literacy Questionnaire (SFLQ) has been widely used to assess FL in different populations. Objective: This study aimed to adapt and validate the SFLQ in Hungarian (SFLQ-HU) and evaluate its psychometric properties among university students. Methods: The adaptation followed international guidelines, including forward- and back-translation, pre-testing, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, while criterion validity was tested through correlations with other health-related scales. For statistical analysis, IBM AMOS 26.0 and SPSS 28.0 software were used. Results: The survey involved 1325 (n = 1325) young adults in 2024. Overall, 76% of the sample were women (n = 1007), and 77.43% of the sample were under 25 years old (n = 1025). The FL level scored 36.47 points (SD: 7.53), with the highest score being 52 and the lowest score being 14.8. The SFLQ-HU demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.850) and a good fit for the one-factor structure in CFA. Test–retest reliability confirmed the stability of the instrument. Significant correlations were found between the SFLQ-HU and measures of health literacy (r = 0.197; p < 0.001), food choice motivations (r = 0.394; p < 0.001), and barriers to health behaviors (r = 0.353; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The SFLQ-HU is a reliable and valid tool for assessing food literacy of young Hungarian-speaking adults. It can facilitate future research and public health initiatives aimed at improving FL and promoting healthy dietary habits. Read More