Reliability of the New Index of Global Food Quality and its relationship with sociodemographic variables and physical activity levels in the Chilean population

Abstract Introduction: surveys play a crucial role in evaluating the quality of food in populations, especially in healthcare settings, helping identify important characteristics of food descriptions and improving efficiency in the collection and management of data in dietary surveys. Objective: the primary aim of this study was to analyze the internal consistency of the New Index of Global Food Quality (NIGFQ) instrument and assess its applicability to sociodemographic variables and levels of physical activity (IPAQ-S) in a specific region of Chile. Methods: a descriptive, comparative, and correlational study that utilizes the online platform of Google Forms for data collection using the New Index of Global Food Quality (NIGFQ) and IPAQ-S instruments, in addition to considering sociodemographic variables, in a sample of 1,331 participants from the metropolitan region of Chile. Results: the study shows an improvement in the reliability of the GQIN (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.63 to 0.71). Findings reveal significant inverse correlations between fruits (r = -0.31; p ≤ 0.05) and legumes (r = -0.34; p ≤ 0.05) with body mass. Conclusions: it is concluded that values above 52.5 points are considered healthy on the new evaluation scale of the index, supported by statistical reliability tests. Similarly, the components of the adjusted New Index of Global Food Quality, particularly fruits and vegetables in greater proportion, show a beneficial relationship with daily consumption in reducing body mass index and body weight.