Development of a tool to measure food availability in the home

描述（由申请人提供）：家庭饮食环境的研究可以增加我们对能量过度消耗的原因的理解，并为帮助制定有效的肥胖预防计划提供线索。对家庭食物的评估不能直接衡量个人的饮食，但确实提供了家庭食物选择的信息。不幸的是，在家中进行观察性评估既昂贵又具有侵入性。通过使用扫描仪将食品包装上的条形码直接输入数据文件，可以减轻负担。使用扫描仪技术的一个主要障碍是缺乏将通用产品代码（UPC）与食品的特性和营养成分联系起来的综合数据库。我们建议推进对家庭食物供应进行观察性研究所需的方法。具体来说，我们将：目标1。通过开发和实施数据收集和分析程序，利用扫描技术进行详尽的观察家庭食物可用性清单，提高家庭食物可用性测量的准确性和可行性。目标2。确定并比较家庭间和家庭内部营养参数（能量、能量密度、脂肪百分比、纤维）和食物类别（水果、蔬菜、零食、加糖饮料）的可变性。目标3。确定家庭食物供应与膳食摄入量之间的关系，通过24小时召回评估营养参数和目标2中指定的食物类别。我们将从美国国立卫生研究院资助的研究中招募80个家庭，这些家庭拍摄非裔美国母亲在家中喂养婴儿并进行3次家庭调查（间隔至少2个月）。我们将使用手持扫描仪记录所有食品，并在进行过程中添加当前可用数据库中缺少的代码和产品信息。结果将包括：1)包含UPC、产品和营养信息的数据库；2)允许扩充数据库的程序；3)对未来研究中功率计算有用的估计；4) 80个非裔美国人家庭食物环境的描述性数据。我们的工作将导致改进的方法，可用于直接评估家庭食品环境，并为开发资源较少的方法（如问卷调查）提供标准方法。通过精确测量家里有什么食物，我们可以了解食物是如何影响饮食的。

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.