Preliminary Sensitivity Assessment of a Food and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents From Low-Income Communities

• Published in: Journal of nutrition education and behavior 2024-08, Vol.56 (8), p.S86-S86
• Main Authors: Mayaki, Tomisin B., Bastian, Graham E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1499-4046; 1878-2620
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2024.05.194

The Food and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (FPAQ-A) scale has been developed to evaluate the behavioral impact of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and similar nutrition education programs targeting adolescents from low-income communities. Measurements of the FPAQ-A's validity and reliability have been conducted; however, the instrument's sensitivity to change (ie, its ability to detect behavior change from pre- to post-intervention) has not been assessed. To conduct a preliminary sensitivity analysis on the FPAQ-A to determine its ability to detect behavioral impacts from adolescent EFNEP education. The 13-item FPAQ-A was administered pre- and post-intervention to 190 9th-12th grade New Jersey EFNEP participants who completed the evidence-based “Rev It Up!” curriculum. A secondary analysis was conducted from deidentified data provided to the researchers from Rutgers University. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine pre- and post-test mean score differences. Further, to account for the heterogeneity of treatment effect, subgroup analyses were also conducted, excluding adolescents who reported the most favorable behaviors at the pre-test. A Bonferroni correction was applied to the 26 tests, and an α=0.002 was used for interpretation of results. Paired t-tests using the full sample (n=190) revealed that questions assessing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and the use of the Nutrition Facts Label were appropriately sensitive (p