Development of a tool to measure food availability in the home

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Studies of the home food environment can increase our understanding of the causes of energy over- consumption and provide clues to help create effective obesity prevention programs. Assessments of foods in the home do not provide direct measures of diets in individuals, but do provide information about food choices in families. Unfortunately, observational assessments in homes are expensive and intrusive. The burden can be reduced by the use of scanners to enter barcodes on food packaging directly into data files. A major impediment to the use of scanner technology is the absence of comprehensive databases that link universal product codes (UPC) to the identity and nutrient content of foods. We propose to move forward the methodology needed to conduct observational studies of home food availability. Specifically we will: Aim 1. improve the accuracy and feasibility of home food availability measurements by developing and implementing data collection and analysis procedures that utilize scanning technology in the the conduct of exhaustive observational home food availability inventories. Aim 2. determine and compare the between- and within-household variability in nutrient parameters (energy, energy density, % fat, fiber) and food categories (fruits, vegetables, snacks, sweetened beverages). Aim 3. determine the association between home food availability and dietary intake as assessed by 24- hour recalls for nutrient parameters and food categories specified in Aim 2. We will recruit 80 families from a NIH-funded study that films African American mothers feeding infants in their homes and perform 3 home inventories (separated by at least 2 months). We will record all foods using handheld scanners and add codes and product information absent from currently available databases as we proceed. Outcomes will include: 1) a database containing UPC, product and nutrient information; 2) a program that allows augmentation of the database; 3) estimates useful for power calculations in future studies; and 4) descriptive data on 80 African American home food environments. Our work will result in improved methodology that can be used for direct assessment of the home food environment as well as provide a criterion method for the development of less resource intensive methods such as questionnaires. By accurately measuring what foods are in the home, we can learn how food availability influences diet.