AUTHOR=Saintila Jacksaint , Morales-García Wilter C. , Calizaya-Milla Yaquelin E. , Ruiz Mamani Percy G. , Huancahuire-Vega Salomón , Calizaya-Milla Sergio E. , Ramos-Vera Cristian TITLE=Psychometric evaluation and invariance of the Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener (BFS-E) in university students JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1055468 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1055468 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=Introduction

University students constantly face a number of health challenges related to an unhealthy diet, characterized by a high intake of saturated fats.

Objective

This study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener (BFS-E) food frequency questionnaire in a university population.

Methods

An observational analytical study of instrumental type was carried out in 5608 Peruvian university students. Based on the Block Fat Screener questionnaire, a back-translation and cultural adaptation process was carried out. The validity of the questionnaire was determined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), hypothesizing a unidimensional structure. For the determination of reliability, the alpha coefficients were considered; likewise, the ω and H coefficients were used to evaluate the construct. The model explained 63% of the cumulative variance.

Results

The CFA confirmed the unidimensionality of the 16-item questionnaire with appropriate goodness-of-fit indicators; therefore, which model of the Peruvian version adequately fits the observed data. The values of the reliability coefficients were higher than 0.90, with ordinal α = 0.94, ω = 0.94, and H = 0.95.

Conclusion

The Spanish version of the Block Fat Screener food frequency questionnaire presents adequate psychometric properties and is therefore a valid scale to quickly measure fat intake in university students in a Latin American context.