Consulting with children in the development of self-efficacy and recall tools related to nutrition and physical activity

Purpose: This article chronicles our efforts to develop an instrument with and for children-complete with insights, multiple iterations, and missteps along the way. The instruments we developed assess children's self-efficacy and recall related to healthy eating and physical activity. Design and Methods: Five focus groups were held with 39 children to discuss the evolving instrument. Results: A nine-item self-efficacy instrument and a 10-item recall instrument were developed with Flesch-Kincaid grade levels of 1.8 and 4.0, respectively, which fifth graders can complete in less than 5min. Practice Implications: When assessing children in clinical practice or research, we should use instruments that have been developed with children's feedback and are child-centered. Without that assurance, assessment results can be questionable.