Misclassification of fourth-grade children's participation in school-provided meals based on parental responses relative to administrative daily records

A feasible and reliable self-administered parental assessment of children’s lifestyle (SAPLACL): an ancillary study based on the VIF program

Objectives

In children, achieving an acceptable degree of accuracy from dietary or physical activity (PA) assessments remains a challenge. Children tend to overestimate their time spent in daily PA and underestimate their dietary intake of fat and sugar. Because parents play a key role in family lifestyle decisions, including children’s food choices and PA levels, it is important to investigate the responses of parents regarding their children’s lifestyle habits. We aimed to develop a Self-Administered Parental Assessment of Children’s Lifestyle (SAPLACL) questionnaire and test its feasibility and reliability in 191 parents (29 fathers and 162 mothers).

Results

For each part of the questionnaire, the rate of missing or improper responses ranged from 0 to 24%. The highest proportion of problems in understanding was reported for the dietary intake dimension, especially for snacking in front of the TV. Some difficulty was also found regarding the question on leisure PA. Test–retest agreement was observed in 54.7–100% of the respondents. Overall, the kappa coefficients were favorable. Thus, the parent self-report questionnaire is a valid and accurate tool for analyzing children’s lifestyle habits in France.

Feasibility and reliability of the Self Administered Children's Lifestyle Assessment (SACLA), a new tool to measure children's lifestyle behaviors: the VIF Program

Objectives

To develop a self-administered children health-related behaviors assessment, and to test its feasibility and reliability in a group of French children.

Methods

A sample of 216 children participated in the first stage of this study, dedicated to the feasibility assessment. An independent sample of 99 children participated in the assessment of reliability via questionnaire test and retest.

Results

Missing or inappropriate responses on different parts of the questionnaire ranged from 0 to 35%, more evident on the drink intake and sleep areas. Some questions in fact have been modified or removed. No problems were reported on the dimensions of physical activity habits and sedentary behaviors. The mean percentage of agreement in test-retest reliability for the questionnaire dimensions was 78% (47-99%). Overall, kappa coefficients were good.

Conclusions

This questionnaire is an acceptable and reliable instrument for assessing lifestyle habits in French children.