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Objective: To determine the reliability and validity of a 10-item questionnaire, the Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire. Methods: Participants were elementary school children exposed to a 90-minute school-based nutrition program. Reliability was assessed via Cronbach alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was assessed comparing the questionnaire's food choices using an objective metric of nutrition quality, the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), via t test. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: Four hundred ninety-nine children participated, 51% were female, and the average age was 8.6 (plus or minus 0.9) years. Cronbach alpha = 0.77 and ICC = 0.68 (between administrations) were observed. ONQI scores of correct responses were significantly higher when compared to the ONQI scores of incorrect responses (27.4 plus or minus 9.4 vs 16.2 plus or minus 9.4; P = 0.01). Conclusions and Implications: The Food Label Literacy for Applied Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire was found to be both reliable and a valid measure of food label literacy in children taught the Nutrition Detectives program. (Contains 1 table.)

Purpose: To compare two intensity levels (standard vs. enhanced) of a nutrition and physical activity intervention vs. a control (usual programs) on nutrition knowledge, body mass index, fitness, academic performance, behavior, and medication use among elementary school students.Design: Quasi-experimental with three arms.Setting: Elementary schools, students' homes, and a supermarket.Subjects: A total of 1487 third-grade students.Intervention: The standard intervention (SI) provided daily physical activity in classrooms and a program on making healthful foods, using food labels. The enhanced intervention (EI) provided these plus additional components for students and their families.Measures: Body mass index (zBMI), food label literacy, physical fitness, academic performance, behavior, and medication use for asthma or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Analysis: Multivariable generalized linear model and logistic regression to assess change in outcome measures.Results: Both the SI and EI groups gained less weight than the control (p < .001), but zBMI did not differ between groups (p = 1.00). There were no apparent effects on physical fitness or academic performance. Both intervention groups improved significantly but similarly in food label literacy (p = .36). Asthma medication use was reduced significantly in the SI group, and nonsignificantly (p = .10) in the EI group. Use of ADHD medication remained unchanged (p = .34).Conclusion: The standard intervention may improve food label literacy and reduce asthma medication use in elementary school children, but an enhanced version provides no further benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]