Abstract: Background：Preschoolers are experiencing a key period of shaping healthy dietary behaviors, for which daily monitoring and timely intervention is urgently required. However, there is a lack of efficient tools for quantifying this level in China so far. Objective：To introduce a scale questionnaire named Nutrition Quotient for Preschoolers from the South Korea (NQ-P), and evaluate its reliability and validity. Design：Crosssectional study. MethodsThe Chinese version of NQ-P was obtained after forward and backward translation, research group review and modification. Guardians of preschoolers in two kindergartens were crosssectionally investigated and the data was collected for reliability and validity analysis. Main outcome measures;NQ-P(Chinese version) scores. Results:The Chinese version of NQ-P used the same scoring and weighting method as the original version, which included 14 items and 3 dimensions (balance, moderation, environment). A total of 440 guardians of preschoolers aged 36.5 years completed the study (97.3%). Among 440, 51.8% were boys, and among those who filled the questionnaires, 317(72.0%) were mothers, 115(26.1%) were fathers, and 282 of them were primary meal planners. Confirmatory factor analysis showed CFI were 0.768 for NQ-P total score, 0.9050.909 for 3 dimensions, RMSEA were 0.063 for NQ-P total score and 0.0310.043 for 3 dimensions. Cronbach's α were 0.7060.774 for NQ-P scores. Retest Kappa were 0.790.98 for 14 items. Conclusions:The Chinese version of NQ-P has acceptable validity and reliability, and can be used to initially evaluate the dietary quality of preschoolers by investigating their guardians.

Key words: Preschool children, Dietary behaviors, Scale questionnaire, Dietary quality