Translation and validation of health professionals’ knowledge and attitudes instrument regarding Baby-Led Weaning approach into European Portuguese

Background: Early childhood is a critical period for preventing malnutrition and ensuring adequate nutrient intake. While various feeding approaches exist, no consensus has been reached on the ideal one. Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is an emerging method that involves the direct introduction of finger foods to children. However, limited evidence exists on health professionals’ (HP) perspective. We aim to translate and validate an instrument to assess the knowledge and attitudes of HP toward BLW method in European Portuguese. Design and methods: A methodological study was conducted with a nonprobability sample of 118 HPs working in primary care settings. The instrument underwent translation, back-translation, and review by an expert panel to ensure semantic and conceptual equivalence. The content validity index (CVI) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were employed to assess content and construct validity, respectively. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach’s alpha. The instrument was available online. Results: The adapted instrument showed high content validity, with CVI values of 0.89 for practice-related items and 0.87 for knowledge and attitude items. EFA revealed three distinct factors: positive child-centered contributions, positive parent-centered contributions, and BLW constraints, explaining 67.46% of total variance. The model’s suitability was confirmed by Bartlett’s test of sphericity (χ²(66) = 665.735; p < 0.001) and the KMO index (0.829). All dimensions demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > 0.7). Conclusions: The validated instrument is a reliable tool for assessing HPs’ knowledge and attitudes toward BLW. Findings support the need for targeted education to better equip professionals in guiding parents on BLW practices.