Investigating the Status of Nutritional Knowledge in Reproductive Age Women Referred to Comprehensive Health Services in Kerman, 2023: Psychometrics of the Persian Version of the Nutritional Knowledge Scale

In recent years, more attention has been paid to the role of nutritional literacy in the formation of a healthy eating pattern. The present study was conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the nutritional knowledge scale in women of reproductive age.

A cross-sectional was done on 320 women of reproductive age who were referred to health service centers in Kerman city. Data was collected through a two-part questionnaire that included demographic information and the Persian version of the nutritional knowledge scale. This scale has 31 questions with a score between 0 and 124. Lisrel version 8.8 software was used.

Most of the participants were married (76.1%), housewives, had an average level of economic state (67.5%), had a university degree (56.6%) and were housewives (52.5%). Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 indicated the appropriate internal consistency of the Persian version. The goodness of fit indices was at an acceptable level after removing some items with a factor load of less than (0.3). The average score of nutritional knowledge was 86.46 ± 13.85, and the status of it in 108 people (33.7%) was low. Women with academic education levels, those working in the private sector, and those with good economic levels obtained higher scores.

The Persian version of the scale had appropriate psychometric properties. About one-third of women had low nutritional knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize increasing nutritional awareness of women of reproductive age.