Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2001 Jun;101(6):635-47.
doi: 10.1016/S0002-8223(01)00161-4.

Reliability and validity of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) Food Checklist: a self-report instrument to measure fat and sodium intake by middle school students

K W Smith  1 , D M Hoelscher, L A Lytle, J T Dwyer, T A Nicklas, M M Zive, A L Clesi, A O Garceau, E J Stone
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Reliability and validity of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) Food Checklist: a self-report instrument to measure fat and sodium intake by middle school students

K W Smith et al. J Am Diet Assoc. 2001 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To develop a scoring algorithm and evaluate the reliability and validity of scores from the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) Food Checklist (CFC) as measures of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium intake in middle school students.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial in which participants were assigned to 1 of 3 study protocols that varied the order of CFC and 24-hour dietary recall administration. Criterion outcomes were percent energy from total fat, percent energy from saturated fat, and sodium intake in milligrams.

Subjects/setting: A multiethnic sample (33% ethnic and racial minorities) of 365 seventh-grade students from 8 schools in 4 states.

Statistical analyses: Multivariable regression models were used to calibrate the effects of individual food checklist items; bootstrap estimates were used for cross-validation; and kappa statistics, Pearson correlations, t tests, and effect sizes were employed to assess reliability and validity.

Results: The median same-day test-retest reliability kappa for the 40 individual CFC food items was 0.85. With respect to item validity, the median kappa statistic comparing student choices to those identified by staff dietitians was 0.54. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.89 for CFC total nutrient scores. Correlations between CFC scores and 24-hour recall values were 0.36 for total fat, 0.36 for saturated fat, and 0.34 for sodium; CFC scores were consistent with hypothesized gender differences in nutrient intake.

Applications/conclusions: The CFC is a reliable and valid tool for measuring fat, saturated fat, and sodium intake in middle school students. Its brevity and ease of administration make the CFC a cost-effective way to measure middle school students' previous day's intake of selected nutrients in school surveys and intervention studies.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources