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Table 2 Description of predictor variables in the NI and ROI cohort (n = 1049)

From: The influence of socio-demographic, psychological and knowledge-related variables alongside perceived cooking and food skills abilities in the prediction of diet quality in adults: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

Variable

No. of items

Range

Mean Score

SD

n

α

General nutrition knowledgea

 E.g. How many servings of FV a day do you think experts are advising people to eat as a minimum?

12

0–12

7.20

2.20

1049

.65

Health Consciousness itemb

 E.g. I am very particular about the healthiness of the food I eat (R).

1

1–5

3.80

0.87

1049

-

Cooking identityc

 I am a good cook; Others view me as a good cook; I am a relatively better cook than my friends/family; I don’t consider myself to be a good cook (R); I get a sense of satisfaction from preparing and cooking meals; I am confident that whatever I cook will turn out well;  I can time different elements of a dish to come together on time.

7

7–35

24.45

5.39

1049

.88

Food neophiliad

 I like to try new foods; I like to try out new recipes; I would describe myself as a foodie (I’m interested in food and seek out food experiences).

3

3–15

10.47

2.67

1048

.74

Cooking skills abilitye

 How good would you say you are at the following on a scale on 1–7 where 1 means very poor and 7 means very good…?

 14 Items: Chopping, mixing and stirring food; blending food; steaming food; boiling or  simmering; stewing food; roasting food; frying/stir-frying food; microwaving food; baking cakes/bread/buns; peeling and chopping vegetables; preparing and cooking raw meat/poultry; preparing and cooking raw fish; making sauces and gravy from scratch; using herbs and spices to flavour food.

14

0–98

47.78

29.32

1049

.93

Food skills abilityf

 How good would you say you are at planning meals ahead (e.g. for the day/week ahead) on a scale on 1–7 where 1 means very poor and 7 means very good?

 19 Items: planning meals ahead (e.g. for the day/week ahead); preparing meals in advance  e.g. packed lunch, partly preparing a meal in advance; following recipes when cooking; shopping with a grocery list; shopping with specific meals in mind; planning how much food to buy; comparing prices before you buy food; knowing what budget you have to spend on food; buying food in season to save money; buying cheaper cuts of meat to save money; cooking more or double recipes which can be used for another meal; preparing or cooking a healthy meal with only few ingredients on hand; preparing or cooking a meal with limited time; using leftovers to create another meal; keeping basic items in your cupboard for putting meals together e.g. herbs/spices, dried/tinned goods; reading the best-before date on food; reading the storage and use-by information on food packets; reading the nutrition information on food labels; balancing meals based on nutrition advice of what is healthy.

19

0–133

45.82

38.64

1049

.94

  1. aParmenter & Wardle [41] (selected items taken from General Nutrition Knowledge (GNK) questionnaire with a range of response categories)
  2. bROIninen et al. [42] GHI single item used as indicator of General Health Interest (GHI) relating to food. Scores ranged from 1 = strongly agree, to 5 = strongly disagree [28]
  3. cDevised and adapted from multiple sources including Keller et al. [27], Buckley et al. [28], Wansink [9] and by the research team. Scores ranged from 1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree [9, 25, 26]
  4. dDevised and adapted from Keller et al. [27], Buckley et al. [28] and by the research team. Scores ranged from 1 = strongly disagree, to 5 = strongly agree [25, 26]
  5. eDevised and adapted from National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) Year 1, Barton et al. [43], Condrasky et al. [44], Wang & Worsley [50], Caraher, Dixon, Lang & Carr-Hill [21], Lyon, Syder, Flellstrom, et al. [20] and by the research team [21, 22, 41–43, 45]
  6. fDevised and adapted from National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) Year 1 cooking items, Barton et al. [43], Brunner, van der Horst & Siegrist [46], Condrasky, [47], Morin et al. [48], Swindle, Baker, Auld [49] and by the research team [41, 42, 44, 46, 47, 50] (R) Reverse scored
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

ISSN: 1479-5868

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