Self-efficacy and norm measures for lunch fruit and vegetable consumption are reliable and valid among fifth grade students

Objective: To determine the reliability and validity of a questionnaire measuring fruit and vegetable (FV) self-efficacy and social norms during school lunch among 5th graders. Design: In this cross-sectional study, students completed lunch food records and a psychosocial questionnaire measuring school lunch FV self-efficacy and social norms regarding consumption during the fall and spring semesters. Test-retest reliability was assessed between fall and spring semesters. The measurement model was cross-validated in the spring data. Setting: One middle school in Houston, Texas. Participants: 275 fifth graders in the 1998 fall semester and 262 of these fifth graders in the 1999 spring semester. Main Outcome Measures: FV consumption and psychosocial variables. Analyses: Principal components analyses, confirmatory factor analyses and bivariate correlations. Results: Three scales were identified: Fruit Setf-Efficacy, Vegetable Self-Efficacy, and FV Social Norms. FV self-efficacy were positively correlated with tow-fat vegetable and fruit consumption. Social norms were positively correlated with total vegetable, low-fat vegetable, fruit and total FV consumption. Conclusions and Implications: Self-efficacy and norms for eating FV at school lunch are related to lunch FV consumption. Increasing self-efficacy and social norms about consuming FV at school appears to be important targets to improve FV consumption.