Home Food Environment Measurement Methods

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DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): Food choices and body mass index are important mediators of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Both the neighborhood and the home food environment may play an important role in influencing individual food choices and body mass index. However, current measures of these constructs are underdeveloped and imprecise. Furthermore, few studies have collected data at the individual, home and neighborhood levels. Most of the available studies are cross- sectional and are therefore limited in their ability to provide information about causal influences. The proposed research will analyze and augment existing data collected as part of a household-level community intervention for weight gain prevention. The primary aim is to develop measures of the neighborhood and home food environment, and to examine the metric properties of these measures in detail. The secondary aim is to develop a series of multi-level models to better understand the influences of the home food environment, household demographics, and neighborhood retail food availability on individual food choices and change in body weight. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will develop measures of the home and neighborhood food environment. Associations with important individual level outcomes such as food choices and body mass index will be examined.