A tool to measure the attitudes and beliefs of nursing students towards childhood overweight/obesity

Background: Childhood overweight/obesity has been rising around the world. However, there is a paucity of literature discussing nurses’ nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs toward overweight/obese children. This paper provides a discussion of the development of a survey tool (Mandarin version) used to measure nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs. Aims: To describe the development and psychometric analysis of a tool (Mandarin version) to measure the attitudes and beliefs of nursing students toward childhood overweight/obesity in Taiwan. Methods: The Mandarin version of a 26 item tool was used to measure nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs about childhood overweight/obesity on a five-point Likert Scale. The reliability of the tool for attitudes and beliefs was assessed by Cronbach’s Alpha. Exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation was performed. Findings: One hundred and fifteen responses were received. Following factor analysis, the 26 items were reduced to 19 for the Mandarin version. Factor analysis revealed three factors: self-concept, social relationships and poor eating behaviour. The reliability for the 13 items on the attitude subscale was 0.760, and the 6 item beliefs subscale was 0.756. Discussion: This study has demonstrated that the Mandarin version of this tool is reliable and valid. Both the attitude and belief scales were found to have internal consistency and reliability. Conclusion: This is the first study to describe the psychometric testing of a tool of nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs about childhood overweight/obesity (Mandarin version). Evidence of the reliability and validity of the items has been established. The tool is easily administered and can be used to identify nurses or nursing students’ attitudes and beliefs to childhood overweight/obesity.