Consulting with children in the development of self-efficacy and recall tools related to nutrition and physical activity

Purpose This article chronicles our efforts to develop an instrument with and for children—complete with insights, multiple iterations, and missteps along the way. The instruments we developed assess children's self‐efficacy and recall related to healthy eating and physical activity. Design and Methods Five focus groups were held with 39 children to discuss the evolving instrument. Results A nine‐item self‐efficacy instrument and a 10‐item recall instrument were developed with Flesch–Kincaid grade levels of 1.8 and 4.0, respectively, which fifth graders can complete in less than 5 min. Practice Implications When assessing children in clinical practice or research, we should use instruments that have been developed with children's feedback and are child‐centered. Without that assurance, assessment results can be questionable.