Resumen

BERNAL, Jennifer  y  LORENZANA, Paulina. The scale of households food security applied to adolescents in Caracas: a valid and reliable measure. Agroalim [online]. 2007, vol.12, n.24, pp.47-54. ISSN 1316-0354.

Household food security (HFS) has been the object of research for more than a decade. Most studies have focused on head of households or female food managers’ scale-based perception of food security level that has so far been shown to be reliable and valid. Yet, world research that reports children or adolescents perceptions is scarce. This study aims to validate the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Projects -CCHIP scale- adapted y validated for use in low income Venezuelan communities, in a sample of 924 public school adolescent students, participants of an Equal Opportunity for Access to the University Program (PIO) launched at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. The SPSS (version 12) statistical package was used for data analysis Factorial and multiple components analysis was used to verify items’ cohesion within factors. Reliability was assessed with alpha Cronbach’s coefficient. A 0.893 coefficient for the HFS scale indicated a highly reliable instrument when used with this sample of adolescents. We suggest the scale provides a simple, practical and rapid HFS assessment tool of adolescent perspectives of the food security levels of their homes

Palabras clave : household food security; CCHIP scale; adolescents; Caracas; Venezuela.