Development of an Instrument Measuring Perceived Environmental Healthfulness: Behavior Environment Perception Survey (BEPS)

Community-Based Participatory Research: Partnering with College Students to Develop a Tailored, Wellness-Focused Intervention for University Campuses

College students face unique challenges with leading healthful lifestyles. Using a community-based participatory research approach, college student research partners at two land-grant universities collected data and developed a tailored intervention to improve the well-being of college students. To inform the design of the program, college students were trained to conduct a needs assessment that included a campus-wide survey on the health behaviors of college students, environmental audits of health policies and food pantries on campus, and stakeholder interviews with campus health professionals. Outcomes of the needs assessment data highlighted university students ranked their health as "good" but nutrition health as "fair/poor." Low or very low food security was self-reported by 36.9% of participants and had an overall diet quality score of 47.6 ± 10.1 out of 100. Health professional interview data indicated campuses provide healthful resources to students, but students are not aware those resources exist. Utilizing the needs assessment data previously mentioned, the nominal group technique was then used for student research partners to collaboratively determine the best intervention approaches and develop a wellness program. Student partners identified (1) education, (2) sharing of campus resources, and (3) incentives as important areas of intervention. Using the data collected, the student research partners developed a program titled, The College Cooking Connection, to address health-related quality of life in college students. Using a community-based participatory research approach to program planning, educators and researchers have a greater likelihood of addressing the current needs of the population they are targeting and developing a successful intervention to meet those health concerns. This study aims to partner with young adult university students to understand the college environment and allow the target community to be involved with the development of intervention programs for their campus.

Development and Validation of the Young Adult Nutrition Literacy Tool

OBJECTIVE

To create a tool to measure college students' functional, interactive, and critical nutrition literacy.

DESIGN

(1) Focus group: item generation, (2) expert review, (3) exploratory factor structure analysis, (4) item refinement and modification, (5) factor structure validation, and (6) criterion validation.

SETTING

Two land-grant college campuses.

PARTICIPANTS

College students aged between 18 and 24 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Survey data was used to assess nutrition literacy.

ANALYSIS

Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), item response theory (IRT) analyses, and correlations.

RESULTS

One-hundred and twenty-three items were generated and tested in an online survey format. Items were eliminated on the basis of face validity, expert feedback, exploratory factor analysis, and CFA/IRT. The 3 measures (functional, interactive, and critical) were analyzed separately. All 3 measures showed reasonable model fit in the CFA/IRT models. Criterion validity showed small to medium effect sizes between measures and fruit/vegetable intake. Reliability estimates met reasonable standards for each measure.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The Young Adult Nutrition Literacy Tool is a novel instrument that measures all 3 domains of nutrition literacy. Strengths include a rigorous 6-step development process, reasonable psychometric properties, and a large breadth of items.

College Students' Views on Functional, Interactive and Critical Nutrition Literacy: A Qualitative Study

This research aimed to uncover how the nutrition literacy domains (functional, interactive, critical) influence the dietary decisions of young adults in college. For this qualitative study, undergraduate college students aged 18-24 years old (n = 24) were recruited to participate in focus groups. The focus group transcripts were independently coded for primary and secondary themes using a grounded theory approach and a basic thematic analysis. Four focus groups with 5-7 participants per group were conducted. The three domains of nutrition literacy emerged in the focus groups with two themes per domain. Themes within functional nutrition literacy included 'food enhances or inhibits good health' and 'components of a healthy diet'; themes within interactive nutrition literacy included 'navigating the college food environment' and 'awareness of food marketing on dietary behavior'; themes within critical nutrition literacy included 'critical appraisal of nutrition information' and 'awareness of societal barriers to good health'. Understanding how the different nutrition literacy domains relate to college students' food choices can inform future researchers on how to appropriately assess nutrition literacy and design programs aimed at improving dietary behaviors of college students.