Development and Validation of a Culturally Adapted Nutrition Literacy Assessment Tool for Nigerian Women of Reproductive Age

This study develops and validates a culturally adapted Nutrition Literacy Assessment Tool specifically designed for Nigerian women of reproductive age, addressing a critical instrumentation gap in Nigerian nutrition research and Home Economics education evaluation. Existing nutrition literacy instruments are predominantly designed within Western cultural and dietary contexts and fail to capture the unique food systems, indigenous knowledge structures, and literacy levels characteristic of Nigerian women across geopolitical zones. The study employs a sequential mixed-methods design in three phases: a qualitative phase involving focus group discussions with 120 women across four geopolitical zones; a content validation phase involving 30 nutrition and Home Economics experts; and a psychometric testing phase with 600 women of reproductive age in six states. Scale development followed Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory protocols, with analyses including exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Rasch modelling, and differential item functioning. The Measurement Equivalence and Cultural Adaptation Framework anchors the methodological design. Original contributions include the first validated nutrition literacy instrument for Nigerian women, IRT-based difficulty parameters for the Nigerian context, and a cross-cultural adaptation protocol replicable for other African contexts. Findings are expected to provide a standardised, validated tool for future nutrition literacy research and Home Economics curriculum evaluation in Nigeria. Recommendations address researchers, curriculum evaluators, and the Federal Ministry of Health. Keywords: nutrition literacy, instrument validation, culturally adapted tool, women of reproductive age, Nigeria.