Feasibility and reliability of the Self Administered Children’s Lifestyle Assessment (SACLA), a new tool to measure children’s lifestyle behaviors: the VIF Program

OBJECTIVES: To develop a self-administered children health-related behaviors assessment, and to test its feasibility and reliability in a group of French children. METHODS: A sample of 216 children participated in the first stage of this study, dedicated to the feasibility assessment. An independent sample of 99 children participated in the assessment of reliability via questionnaire test and retest. RESULTS: Missing or inappropriate responses on different parts of the questionnaire ranged from 0 to 35%, more evident on the drink intake and sleep areas. Some questions in fact have been modified or removed. No problems were reported on the dimensions of physical activity habits and sedentary behaviors. The mean percentage of agreement in test-retest reliability for the questionnaire dimensions was 78% (47-99%). Overall, kappa coefficients were good. CONCLUSIONS: This questionnaire is an acceptable and reliable instrument for assessing lifestyle habits in French children.