Elsevier

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Volume 45, Issue 6, November–December 2013, Pages 540-548
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Research Article
Development and Reliability Testing of a Food Store Observation Form

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2013.02.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To develop a reliable food store observational data collection instrument to be used for measuring product availability, pricing, and promotion.

Design

Observational data collection.

Setting

A total of 120 food stores (26 supermarkets, 34 grocery stores, 54 gas/convenience stores, and 6 mass merchandise stores) in the Chicago metropolitan statistical area.

Main Outcome Measures

Inter-rater reliability for product availability, pricing, and promotion measures on a food store observational data collection instrument.

Analysis

Cohen's kappa coefficient and proportion of overall agreement for dichotomous variables and intra-class correlation coefficient for continuous variables.

Results

Inter-rater reliability, as measured by average kappa coefficient, was 0.84 for food and beverage product availability measures, 0.80 for interior store characteristics, and 0.70 for exterior store characteristics. For continuous measures, average intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.82 for product pricing measures; 0.90 for counts of fresh, frozen, and canned fruit and vegetable options; and 0.85 for counts of advertisements on the store exterior and property.

Conclusions and Implications

The vast majority of measures demonstrated substantial or almost perfect agreement. Although some items may require revision, results suggest that the instrument may be used to reliably measure the food store environment.

Introduction

Environmental factors have a significant role in influencing dietary behaviors among youth.1, 2, 3, 4 Whereas adolescents' diets are affected by their home and school environments, with increasing independence and disposable income, they often make independent purchasing decisions in retail outlets.5 In food stores specifically, the availability and price of healthy and unhealthy foods and beverages and the marketing of such products via price promotions, advertisements, and other promotional strategies can potentially influence adolescents' purchasing behaviors.6, 7

A number of data collection instruments have been developed for the specific purpose of measuring the food store environment;8, 9 a smaller subset have undergone testing for inter-rater reliability. The majority of these tested instruments include measures of food/beverage product availability.10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Many also incorporate some type of price measures10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and a few include some measures related to marketing (eg, signage and product placement/displays).12, 14, 15 Although many of these tools assess availability and prices of healthy items, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk, and high-fiber bread, fewer assess the availability and prices of unhealthy items, particularly processed food and beverage products that youths might purchase and consume. Furthermore, there is a lack of research instruments that comprehensively address multiple components of marketing in food stores.6

To answer a range of research questions about the food store environment and explore factors that might influence adolescents' food purchasing and consumption behaviors, a new observational tool was developed, building from existing tools. The goal was to create an instrument that would measure the availability, pricing, and marketing of both healthy and unhealthy food and beverage items in food stores, and that could be used in stores of varying types and sizes and in a diverse set of communities throughout the country. The purpose of this article is to report on the development and inter-rater reliability testing of a food store observational data collection instrument that includes measures of product availability, pricing, and promotion.

Section snippets

Instrument and Measures

As part of a larger, national research study conducted by the Bridging the Gap program, a 12-page Food Store Observation Form (BTG-FSOF) was developed, building on existing instruments and input from a panel of researchers, practitioners, and advocates with expertise in nutrition, measurement of the food environment, and food policy. The BTG-FSOF included several measures that were adapted from the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores, the Communities of Excellence in Nutrition,

Results

After supplementing the commercial business list with Web searches and screening these businesses, 324 eligible businesses remained, from which the sample was selected. From this total, 141 food stores were sampled, including 28 supermarkets, 43 grocery stores, 63 gas/convenience stores, and 7 mass merchandise stores. Store classification in the study sample was based on the store type listed in the Dun and Bradstreet business database, except for select cases in which screening indicated

Discussion

Findings from the present study indicate that most measures on the BTG-FSOF could be reliably captured through systematic observation in various store types and sizes. In general, measures of food and beverage product availability had almost perfect reliability. This finding is consistent with previous research testing the reliability of product availability measures in food stores.10, 11, 13 For the few items that had lower κ values, the data showed a highly skewed distribution (ie, high

Implications for Research and Practice

The current study adds to existing food environment research by offering a food store observational data collection tool that is especially relevant to current issues in nutrition and food policy through its emphasis on sugar-sweetened beverages and fruits and vegetables and its inclusion of more detailed price and marketing measures. Aside from capturing the presence of healthy options across food stores, it also measures availability of less healthy items; product prices; counts of fresh,

Acknowledgments

Support for this study was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the Bridging the Gap Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (PI: Chaloupka). The authors gratefully acknowledge the input provided by their expert panel when creating the original food store observation form: Tracy Fox, MPH, RD, Consultant; Joel Gittelsohn, PhD, Johns Hopkins University; Karen Glanz, PhD, University of Pennsylvania; Valerie Quinn, MEd, California Department of Health Services; Donald (Diego)

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