Development and validation of a short, consumer-oriented nutrition knowledge questionnaire.

A short scale was developed and validated that assesses consumers' knowledge about nutrition. Sixty-four nutrition knowledge items were derived from consumer interviews and expert recommendations about healthy eating. Items were administered as a postal survey to a sample of consumers randomly drawn from the directory (response rate=37%, N=1043). Twenty items were retained to build the final nutrition knowledge scale. Internal reliability, criterion and construct validity were acceptable. Associations of the scale with self-reported food consumption frequencies indicated limited correlation of nutrition knowledge with food choice. Widespread nutrition knowledge gaps in consumers were revealed.