Home food and activity assessment. Development and validation of an instrument for diverse families of young children

• Published in: Appetite 2014-09, Vol.80, p.23-27
• Main Authors: Boles, Richard E., Burdell, Alexandra, Johnson, Susan L., Gavin, William J., Davies, Patricia L., Bellows, Laura L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Beverages; Child, Preschool; Colorado; Dairy Products; Dietary Sucrose - administration & dosage; Diversity; Female; Fruit; Home environment; Humans; Life Style; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Activity; Obesity; Obesity - prevention & control; Preschool; Rural; Rural Population; Snacks; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Television; Vegetables; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0195-6663; 1095-8304
• DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.04.026

•We tested a home food and activity instrument with diverse families•Homes often contain unhealthy snack foods and low amounts of fruits and vegetables•Half of the homes reported a television in the preschool child's bedroom•Low education and income families report less healthy home characteristics The purpose of this study was to refine and psychometrically test an instrument measuring the home food and activity environment of geographically and economically diverse families of preschool aged children. Caregivers of preschool aged children (n = 83) completed a modified self-report questionnaire. Reliably trained researchers conducted independent observations on 25 randomly selected homes. Agreement statistics were conducted at the item level (154 total items) to determine reliability. Frequency counts were calculated to identify item availability. Results showed Kappa statistics were high (.67–1.00) between independent researchers but varied between researchers and parents resulting in 85 items achieving criterion validity (Kappa >.60). Analyses of reliable items revealed the presence in the home of a high frequency of unhealthy snack foods, high fat milk and low frequency of availability of fruits/vegetables and low fat milk. Fifty-two percent of the homes were arranged with a television in the preschool child's bedroom. Physical Activity devices also were found to have high frequency availability. Families reporting lower education reported higher levels of sugar sweetened beverages and less low-fat dairy (p