(P07-07-26) Pilot Validation of the Nutrition Integrated With Fermented Dairy (NIFTY) Needs Assessment Survey for WIC-Eligible Women

Objectives: Fermented food intake offers health benefits in the first 1000 days and beyond, yet yogurt redemption in the WIC food package remains low. NIFTY was developed to assess perceptions, use, and acceptance of fermented dairy foods among WIC-eligible women. This pilot validation study evaluated the survey’s reliability, internal consistency, validity, quality, and sensitivity to inform instrument refinement.

Methods: WIC-eligible women were invited to test the survey, and a subset of participants completed 30-minute cognitive interviews. Multiple complementary psychometric approaches were used to evaluate the survey across six constructs: Fermented Dairy Intake, Taste Perceptions, Preferences, Attitudes, Facilitators, and Barriers. Cronbach’s alpha evaluated internal consistency, and corrected item–total correlations evaluated item performance within each construct (threshold ≥0.30). Floor and ceiling effects assessed the survey’s sensitivity ( >15% of participants selecting lowest or highest response). Cognitive interviews and expert review evaluated content and response validity. Statistical analyses were conducted in R (v4.5.2).

Results: Thirty eligible women completed the survey: 87% currently receive WIC benefits, 10% previously received WIC benefits, and 3% never received WIC benefits. Internal consistency across constructs ranged from unacceptable to good. Cronbach’s alpha was highest for Fermented Dairy Intake (α = 0.86) and Attitudes (α = 0.83), acceptable for Taste Perceptions (α = 0.72) and Barriers (α = 0.76), lower for Facilitators (α = 0.59), and lowest for Preferences (α = 0.41). The proportion of items within each construct meeting the ≥0.30 threshold was 76% for Fermented Dairy Intake, 40% for Taste Perceptions, 100% for Preferences, 86% for Attitudes, 57% for Facilitators, and 85% for Barriers. Fermented Dairy Intake showed substantial floor effects (88% of items) with no ceiling effects, whereas the Taste Perceptions construct showed no floor effects but substantial ceiling effects (64% of items). Experts rated the constructs favorably, and participants reported positive survey experiences.

Conclusions: This systematic validation process provides a model for developing statistically rigorous community nutrition research instruments and informs survey refinement.

Funding Sources: Supported by DCC and CDRF.