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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #149230
Title: VALIDATION OF A FRUIT, JUICE, AND VEGETABLE AVAILABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE.

Author
item MARSH, T - BAYLOR COLL OF MED
item Cullen, Karen
item Baranowski, Thomas

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition Education
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2003
Publication Date: 3/31/2003
Citation: Marsh T, Cullen KW, Baranowski T. 2003. Validation of a fruit, juice, and vegetable availability questionnaire. Journal of Nutrition Education. 35(2):93-97.

Interpretive Summary: Little is know about whether people can accurately remember and report the foods they have in their kitchen. A study was conducted where interviews were conducted in the homes of parents with 4th to 6th grade children. Parents were asked whether certain fruit, vegetables, and fruits were present in their homes in the past 7 days. Then the parents were asked whether the data collector could go into the kitchen and observe whether the foods were present at that time. There was good agreement between the parent and observer report, showing that researchers could use parent report in studies.

Technical Abstract: This research assessed the validity of a self-reported fruit, juice, and vegetable home availability measure. In-home interviews were conducted with 48 parents of fourth to sixth grade children. Scales assessing self-reported home availability of fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables over the past 7 days were compared with an observed home inventory conducted on the interview day. Analyses included Cohen's kappa of agreement, specificity and sensitivity, and correlations, with significance level <.05. There was substantial agreement between self-reported and observed home inventories of many fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables among participating families in this study. Self-reported shelf inventories can be an effective tool for use in assessing the availability of fruit, juice, and vegetables in the home.