AUTHOR=Hilary Serene , Safi Samir , Sabir Rubina , Numan Asma Bahaaldeen , Zidan Souzan , Platat Carine 

TITLE=Development and validation of a tool to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward diet sustainability

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1432057

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2024.1432057

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument, the Sustainable Diets Questionnaire (SDQ), to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice related toof sustainable diets in adult populations. A panel of four nutritionists identified 63 items through a literature review and refined them to a 54-item model for validation across four domains: Knowledge domain (K, 8 eight items), Attitude domain (A, 18 items), Practice domain (P, 16 items) and Consumption Habits domain (D, 12 items). The validation process consisted of two phases: a pilot with 86 individuals (Phase 1) and a larger study with 389 participants (Phase 2). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted in both phases to verify model fit. In Phase 1, the initial four-factor model did not converge, indicating a need for item modification and a revised three-factor model (K domain, 8 eight items; A domain, 18 items; new P domain, 28 items). In Phase 2, theis new model showed improvement in fit indices with a Scaled Chi-Square of 2.415, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) of 0.863, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) of 0.747, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.851 and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was 0.066, although some indices fell below the 0.9 threshold. The Cronbach's α for the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice domains were 0.9, 0.96, and 0.897, respectively, with an overall α of 0.959. There was no significant difference between the first and second attempts of the SDQ model, indicating good test-retest reliability. There was also a significant positive correlation between the response scores of K, A and P domains (K vs A, r=0.575, p<0.001; K vs P, r=0.496, p=<0.001 and A vs P, r=0.665, p=<0.001). The study concludes that the three-factor model of SDQ is a valid and reliable tool for understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of sustainable diets among adults.