Abstract

in English, Arabic, French

Background: Little is known about the nutritional knowledge of children in Kuwait and school-based nutrition interventions are scarce. No validated tool to assess the nutrition knowledge of schoolchildren in Kuwait is available.

Aims: This study determined the validity and reliability of a nutrition knowledge questionnaire in Kuwaiti primary-school children, and measured children's nutrition knowledge before and after a nutrition awareness intervention.

Methods: The questionnaire included five questions to measure nutritional knowledge. The face and content validity were assessed by nutrition and paediatric experts. To assess questionnaire reliability and nutrition knowledge, 642 schoolchildren (8-12 years) were assigned to an intervention, control or reliability group. Each group completed the questionnaire twice, one or two weeks apart. Students in the intervention group attended a nutrition knowledge presentation before completing the questionnaire the second time. Independent and paired samples t-tests were used to assess score differences between and within the intervention and control groups for changes in nutrition knowledge. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to measure score consistency in the reliability group.

Results: Overall, the questionnaire had good content validity and moderate to strong reliability (r = 0.44, P < 0.001). Students in the intervention group had significantly higher mean nutritional knowledge scores after the intervention (from 3.65 (SD 1.03) to 4.20 (SD 1.02); P = 0.17). Control group scores were mostly unchanged.

Conclusions: The Kuwait child nutrition knowledge questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool to assess nutritional knowledge in schoolchildren in Kuwait. Nutrition knowledge of Kuwaiti schoolchildren should be improved using age-appropriate interventions in school.

Keywords: Kuwait; knowledge; nutrition; questionnaire; schoolchildren.