Development of a tool for food literacy assessment for young adults: Findings from a Korean validation study

Background and Objectives: There is little research on the development and validation of measurement tools to evaluate integrative concepts of food literacy; however, this is a growing research area. Methods and Study Design: A food literacy measurement tool for young Korean adults was developed in three phases: (1) tool development and content validation using the Delphi method (2) pilot testing (n=108) and (3) confirmatory study (n=435) and internal consistency using Cronbach’s α and the test-retest for reliability. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Feedback from the Delphi rounds resulted in modification and rewording of nine items, yielding 105 items with acceptable content validity ratio (CVR). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed an eight-factor construct: food and nutrition knowledge, food safety, food systems, sociocultural context, food skill, food choice, self-efficacy, and food resource management. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the validated tool met the acceptable indices of basic psychometric standards, and internal consistency was satisfactory for all subscales (Cronbach’s α >0.70). Conclusions: A validated food literacy assessment tool for young Korean adults was developed.