WillTry Scale [WTS-22]

WillTry Scale [WTS-22]

Description

The WillTry Scale (WTS-22) is an instrument designed to assess children’s willingness to try fruits and vegetables, including both familiar and less familiar foods. The original version contains 22 items and has been used primarily with children and early adolescents.

Purpose

The main purpose of the WTS-22 is to evaluate willingness and intention to try new foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. It can also help identify factors associated with food acceptance and reluctance to consume unfamiliar foods.

Scoring

Responses are typically organized according to the child’s degree of willingness to try each food. Higher scores indicate greater willingness to try fruits and vegetables, whereas lower scores reflect greater reluctance or food avoidance.

Validity and Reliability

Psychometric evaluations of the WillTry Scale have reported acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values of approximately 0.70 or higher. Test-retest reliability coefficients have also shown satisfactory stability, while associations with actual food consumption provide support for predictive validity.

Use

The WTS-22 may be used in child nutrition research, school-based health promotion programs, and dietary interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and improving children’s acceptance of healthy foods.

Reference

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.