Obesity perception survey among youth in Turkey: instrument development and testretest reliability

Abstract

Background/aim: We aimed to develop an instrument that can assess the perceptions and opinions of young people regarding the causesand consequences of obesity and the role of individuals, families, communities, and government in addressing obesity.Materials and methods: A 36-question (101-item) survey was developed by adopting, translating, and revising multiple-choice or Likertscale questions from existing surveys to assure construct cross-cultural validity. A two-factor mixed-effects model estimated the intraclasscorrelation coefficient (ICC) to measure the test-retest reliability of questions administered 2 weeks apart to a convenient sample ofİstanbul high school and university students, aged 15–25 years (n = 122).Results: The mean ICC for university and high school was 0.70 and 0.63, respectively. University students were more consistent in relatingthe problem to society and public policy preferences. High school students were more consistent in relating the problem and solutionto themselves and their immediate environments. Using a 0.5 cutoff for the ICC’s lower 95% confidence limit, followed by reevaluationof the question flow, a 19-question (36-item) survey was retained for adolescents and a 26-question (52-item) survey for young adults.Conclusion: While the survey items have moderate to excellent reliability for high school and university students, it can be administeredlongitudinally to suggest changes to policies and interventions, and after cross-cultural validation, it can be utilized to compare obesityperceptions across different populations.