WillTry SCALE

Abstract

The WillTry SCALE is a specialized psychological instrument developed to measure children’s self-reported willingness to try fruits and vegetables, encompassing both novel and common food items. Developed in response to the global epidemic of childhood obesity, the scale is designed to identify behavioral factors that influence dietary intake in young populations. The original instrument is interviewer-administered, consisting of 22 items (expanded to 31 in later versions), and utilizes a three-point categorical response format (try, maybe try, wouldn’t try).

The WillTry SCALE yields a total score reflecting overall willingness, as well as distinct subscale scores for willingness toward fruits and willingness toward vegetables. This tool is highly valuable for researchers developing targeted interventions aimed at increasing children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables, thereby supporting weight loss interventions and improved nutritional outcomes, particularly within vulnerable populations like those in the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD).

Keywords

WillTry Scale, Fruit Consumption, Vegetable Consumption, Children’s Eating Behavior, Food Willingness, Childhood Obesity, Dietary Intake, Psychometrics

Authors

Thomson, J. L., McCabe-Sellers, B. J., Strickland, E., Lovera, D., Nuss, H. J., Yadrick, K., Duke, B., and Bogle, M. L.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the WillTry SCALE is to quantify children’s self-reported disposition toward trying different fruits and vegetables. Recognizing that factors such as nutritional knowledge, parental intake, socioeconomic status, and self-efficacy influence a child’s diet, the instrument provides a measurable score of willingness, which is a critical precursor to actual consumption.

Furthermore, the scale was developed specifically to inform and evaluate the efficacy of interventions designed to improve childhood nutrition, particularly those focusing on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in settings like schools and community programs.

Construct

The WillTry SCALE measures the psychological construct of Food Willingness, specifically centered on produce (fruits and vegetables). This construct is viewed as a measure of behavioral intent related to trying new or common foods, rather than a measure of consumption frequency or preference alone.

The scale captures several related dimensions of eating behavior through its various item types, including:

• Willingness to try specific food items (Fruits and Vegetables).
• Perceived healthy eating patterns (self and parent).
• Assessment of picky eating behavior (self and parent).
• Willingness to try new foods in various locations (environmental influence).

Validity

The psychometric properties of the WillTry SCALE were rigorously evaluated by Thomson and colleagues in 2010. A key aspect of the validation process involved establishing criterion validity against observed behavior, a choice made specifically to overcome biases inherent in typical self-report dietary data (e.g., recall bias and social desirability).

The validation utilized fruit and vegetable snack feedings in summer day camp programs in Arkansas and Mississippi. Direct observation of food intake—calculated as the consumed percentage of offered fruits and vegetables—was used as the objective criterion. This methodology involved pre-weighing snacks and then re-weighing containers and refuse, providing a reliable measure of actual consumption against which the self-reported willingness scores were compared.

Reliability

While the provided source content confirms that the psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated by Thomson et al. (2010), specific metrics for internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) or test-retest reliability are not explicitly detailed here. However, the study design included test surveys administered in June and retest surveys administered approximately six weeks later for the MS2 and AR studies, indicating that test-retest reliability was assessed as part of the overall psychometric evaluation.

Factor Analysis

Although the source material does not detail a formal exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis, the scale’s scoring structure implies a minimum of two primary factors or subscales: Willingness to Try Fruit and Willingness to Try Vegetables. The ability to compute separate subscale scores suggests a distinct underlying factor structure related to these two major food groups. The instrument’s later, expanded version also introduced separate clusters of items related to location willingness and perceived eating patterns (pickiness, healthy eating), which may constitute additional factors.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral self-report scale measuring willingness and intent, supplemented by demographic and parent/child eating perception items.

Format: The scale is interviewer-administered in a one-on-one setting. The use of flash card photographs corresponding to the foods being discussed is integral to the administration process.

Language Available: English (based on the context of development in the United States).

Population Group: Children.

Age Group: 5–14 years.

Population Details: The instrument was developed and piloted in small rural Delta communities, specifically targeting children in the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) region.

Test Methodology: The core food and location items use three-point Likert-type responses: Yes (3), Maybe (2), and No (1), where higher scores indicate greater willingness. The healthy eater items (Yes=3, Sometimes=2, No=1) and picky eater items (Will eat anything offered=3, Eat most foods=2, Eat only favorite foods=1) also use a three-point categorical system.

Keywords

Fruit; Vegetables; Eating; Children; Obesity; Willingness to Try; Behavioral Intent; Nutritional Assessment; Lower Mississippi Delta

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: The primary development and evaluation reference was published in 2010. Pilot studies and administration occurred between 2006 (MS1 study) and 2008 (AR study).

Permissions and Fee: Information regarding current permissions or licensing fees is not provided in the source material. Researchers should contact the primary author, J. L. Thomson, for licensing and use details.

The original PDF of the WillTry instrument can be downloaded here: WillTry instrument

Reference’s

• Thomson, J. L., McCabe-Sellers, B. J., Strickland, E., Lovera, D., Nuss, H. J., Yadrick, K., Duke, B., & Bogle, M. L. (2010). Development and evaluation of WillTry. An instrument for measuring children’s willingness to try fruits and vegetables. Appetite, 54, 465-472.
• Tussing-Humphreys L, Thomson J, McCabe-Sellers B, Strickland E, Lovera D, Bogle M. A school-based fruit and vegetable snacking pilot intervention for Lower Mississippi Delta children. Infant, Children, and Adolescent Nutrition published online 31 July 2012.

Items of the WillTry SCALE

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The specific text of the 22 original items (or the 31 items from the AR version) is not explicitly listed in the source content provided. However, the structure and categories of the items are detailed below:

The WillTry instrument is designed to be fluid, meaning the specific food items tested may vary depending on the study context and food availability. The most recent (AR) version consisted of 31 items divided into the following categories:

1. Specific Food Questions (14 items): Questions regarding willingness to try specific fruits and vegetables, supported by flash card photographs (e.g., apples, baby carrots, kiwi, cantaloupe, oranges).
2. General Food Questions (3 items): Broader questions about food acceptance.
3. Location Questions (6 items): Questions addressing where the child would be willing to try new fruits and vegetables.
4. Picky Eater Assessment (2 items): One item for self-assessment and one for parent assessment.
5. Healthy Eater Assessment (2 items): One item for self-assessment and one for parent assessment.
6. Demographic Items (4 items): Age, gender, number of brothers, and number of sisters.

The response categories for the core food and location items are: Would Try (Yes), Would Maybe Try (Maybe), or Wouldn’t Try (No).