Turkish validity-reliability of the sustainable consumption behavior-nutrition scale and examination of its relationship with some sustainable diet models

Unsustainable food systems pose a risk to the planet, as 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food. In this respect, it is essential to increase the awareness of individuals on sustainable nutrition and to get individuals to adopt sustainable food consumption behaviors. This study aimed to examine the Turkish validity-reliability of the Sustainable Consumption Behavior-Nutrition Scale (SCBnutrition) and its relationship with the sustainable diet models that is the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. The study was carried out with a total of 272 adult individuals, 177 women and 95 men, between the ages of 19-64, who were at least literate and living in Turkey, between June and July 2021. Data were collected through an online survey. The study questionnaire consists of six parts: General Information, Health Information, Nutrition Habits, Sustainable Consumption Behavior-Nutrition Scale (SCBnutrition), Mediterranean Diet Adherence Scale (MEDAS) and DASH Diet Quality (DASH-Q) Scale. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, the construct validity of the SCBnutrition, which originally consisted of 17 items, was ensured as it consisted of two dimensions, "purchase choices" (α= 0.69) and "nutrition choices" (α= 0.81) and a total of 11 items (χ2 /sd=3.75, RMSEA=0.10, CFI=0.96, and TLI=0.95). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) in test-retest reliability; purchase choices dimension (ICC=0.88), nutrition choices dimension (ICC=0.86) and SCBnutrition (ICC=0.89) showed high correlations. There is a significant relationship between individuals' SCBnutrition scores and variables of gender, age, familiarity with the concept of sustainable nutrition, and healthy eating thoughts (p<0.05). The purchase choices dimension scores of the vegetarian individuals are higher than the scores of the non-vegetarian individuals (p<0.05). While the MEDAS score and the nutrition choices dimension, as well as the SCBnutrition scores, have a positive correlation (p<0.05); there is a positive correlation between the DASH-Q Scale score and both the two sub-dimensions and the total score of the SCBnutrition (p<0.001). As a result of this study, the Sustainable Consumption Behavior-Nutrition Scale was adapted to Turkish society and found to be valid and reliable for adult individuals.