Abstract

DIAZ RESENDIZ, Felipe de Jesús  and  FRANCO PAREDES, Karina. The Development and Initial Validation of the Estimation and Frequency of Food Intake Scale. Rev. Mex. de trastor. aliment [online]. 2012, vol.3, n.1, pp.38-44. ISSN 2007-1523.

One way to contribute to solving problems related to eating behavior is to develop valid and reliable instruments to measure estimation and food consumption frequency in Mexican population. The present study describes the development and initial validation of the estimation and food intake scale (ECA, for its Spanish acronym). The first version comprised 143 items in a Likert-type scale with five options each one and it was applied to 432 participants from Jalisco State, Mexico City and Mexico State. According to item-total correlation 32 items were selected and reliability analysis yielded a Cronbach alpha of .92 and .90 to estimation and frequency of food intake consumption respectively. Factor analysis only for estimation section yielded a six-factor structure which explained 53.3% of the total variance and reliability indices ranged between .55 and .76. The mean of food estimation showed that food was considered unhealthy and were consumed once a month. It is necessary to modify the current version of the scale and applied to a wider and heterogeneous sample.

Keywords : Frequency; estimation; food; reliability; Mexican population.