Validity and reliability of plant-based culinary nutrition model questionnaire for fitness among sports science students

Introduction: There is an emerging focus on plant-based foods that have the added advantage of being nutritious without side effects. Besides, its preparation with nutritional awareness and culinary skills could be an effective solution for improving personal fitness. This study aimed to determine validity and reliability of a questionnaire for the development of a plant-based culinary nutrition model for fitness among sports science students. Methods: This study employed exploratory sequential mixed method design and was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 employed a qualitative design utilising modified Delphi method to determine content validity index (CVI) of the questionnaire, while phase 2 was a quantitative design using Cronbach’s alpha statistical analysis to evaluate reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire consisted of the need for plant-based culinary nutrition model (Section A) and the model’s components (Section B). Thirteen expert panels from diverse expertise in sports nutrition and 30 sports science students took part. Results: Phase 1 resulted in development of a questionnaire where Section A and Section B scored CVI of 0.834 and 1.000, respectively. For phase 2, Cronbach’s alpha score for reliability of the questionnaire was 0.836 with a total of 15 items. The Cronbach’s alpha score for questionnaire items from Sections A and B were 0.709 and 0.832, respectively. Conclusion: The questionnaire developed in this study is validated and is considered reliable for use as a significant tool for plantbased culinary nutrition among sports science students.