Psychometric Evidence of the Attitudes Toward Food Scale for Native Hawaiians

Abstract

Many efforts are being made to promote healthy eating habits and nutrition among Native Hawaiian communities by cultivating positive attitudes toward healthy foods. However, there are limited quantitative scales that have been psychometrically validated with Native Hawaiian communities. This paper examines evidence on the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Food (ATF) scale used with 68 Native Hawaiian adults from Waimānalo who are participating in a backyard aquaponics intervention called Mini Ahupua'a for Lifestyle and Mea'ai through Aquaponics (MALAMA). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and internal consistency reliability analysis were conducted to examine the underlying constructs of the ATF scale. Cognitive interviews with 3 MALAMA participants were also conducted to analyze how participants understood, processed, and responded to the scale. Findings from the cognitive interviews provided response-process evidence of validity and acceptability. Findings from the EFA revealed 2 factors. Factor 1 contained items that discussed confidence in preparing and using healthy foods. Factor 2 contained items that involved the consumption of healthy foods. The reliability analysis suggested that the 2 factors of the ATF scale are internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.79 and 0.71, respectively). Taken together, the evidence provides provisional support for the validity and reliability of the instrument for measuring attitudes among Native Hawaiians from Waimānalo. The ATF scale may be useful for similar health and nutritional programs for Native Hawaiians in Hawai'i. Future studies with larger samples and diverse sources of validity evidence may provide additional support of the scale's validity.

Keywords: Hawai‘i; aquaponics; nutrition; rural community; validity.