Journal article
Development and Preliminary Validation of the PC-FCQ: The Parent and Carer Food Choice Questionnaire
Nutrients, Vol.17(10), pp.1-14
2025
PMCID: PMC12114542
PMID: 40431474
Abstract
Background: Poor nutrition in childhood can have irreversible impacts on development and health, potentially resulting in cognitive impairments and an increased risk of chronic disease later in life. Aim: This study aimed to develop and validate the Parent Carer-Food Choice Questionnaire (PC-FCQ) to determine the key factors influencing the parental food choices of children aged between two and five years. Methods: A sample of 737 Australian parents and carers completed the questionnaire consisting of 98 items on a 10-point frequency of influence anchored at 1 never to 10 always. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to identify the key factors and refine the questionnaire. Results: The PCA extracted 65 items organized into 12 factors explaining 62.8% of the total variance. The factors were named ethical concerns, nutritional attributes, child preferences, child mood, awareness, parent sensory, convenience, situation, culture, professional advice, accessibility and weight control. The final Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure was 0.93, and the Bartlett test of sphericity was statistically significant X2(4753) = 39,643.87, p < 0.001. Moderate intercorrelations were detected between seven factors. Conclusions: This research resulted in a PC-FCQ that includes factors specifically relevant to parental food choice. The PC-FCQ will enable researchers and clinicians to more effectively provide nutrition education and dietary interventions to suit the parent and child. The next phase of this research will be to test the accuracy and reliability of the PC-FCQ in an independent sample via confirmatory factor analysis.
Details
- Title
- Development and Preliminary Validation of the PC-FCQ: The Parent and Carer Food Choice Questionnaire
- Authors
- Alex McKenna - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of HealthRachael L. Thurecht - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsLibby Swanepoel - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsGeorgia Blair - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of HealthFiona E. Pelly - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics
- Publication details
- Nutrients, Vol.17(10), pp.1-14
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu17101735
- ISSN
- 2072-6643
- PMID
- 40431474; PMC12114542
- Copyright note
- © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request.
- Grant note
- This work was supported by internal funding from the School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD, Aus.
- Organisation Unit
- Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991130085402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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