Abstract
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To develop and assess the reliability of an instrument that enables auditing information on consumer food environment indicators, such as availability, price, promotional and advertising strategies, and quantity of brands available, using the food recommendations adopted by the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population as a theoretical basis.METHODS This is a methodological study in two phases: 1. development of the audit instrument and 2. assessment of its reliability and reproducibility . The Content Validity Index was estimated for each instrument item (>0.80 satisfactory). Inter-rater and test-retest reliability were assessed by percentage agreement and Kappa coefficients. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Scatter-plots were used to measure the degree of linear correlation between two quantitative variables.RESULTS The Content Validity Index was 0.91. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability were mostly high (Kappa> 0.80), for food availability indicators. Among the items that measure advertising, Kappa values for inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.57 to 1.00 and for the test-retest ranged from 0.18 to 0.90. Prices and quantity of brands showed a positive linear correlation between measurements performed by researcher 1 and 2 and between visits 1 and 2.CONCLUSIONS AUDITNOVA is reliable for measuring aspects such as availability, price, quantity of brands, and advertising of foods available in the consumer food environment.
Highlights
The food environment, in its multiple dimensions[1], influences food consumption and formation of eating habits[2,3]
AUDITNOVA is reliable for measuring aspects such as availability, price, quantity of brands, and advertising of foods available in the consumer food environment
We designed the NOVA-based food environment audit instrument named AUDITNOVA in stages that involved systematic meetings of the research group; detailed analysis of Brazilian and international audit instruments and detailed analysis of the NOVA food classification proposed by Monteiro et al.[17,18,19]
Summary
The food environment, in its multiple dimensions[1], influences food consumption and formation of eating habits[2,3]. Using a socioecological behavior approach, Glanz et al.[1] suggest a conceptual model that divides the food environment into four main domains: community food environment, organizational food environment, information food environment, and consumer food environment. The latter refers to what consumers find inside and around retail food establishments, for example, healthy food availability, variety, price, promotions, shelf position, nutritional information, and advertising, determining factors in decision-making processes of food acquisition and consumption by the population[8,9]. A study in the United States found only 7% of the total food information in the weekly circulated leaflet from a supermarket chain was about fruit, 10% about vegetables, 10% about milk and dairy products, and 18% about cereals and grains; it showed information in these leaflets often influence consumers when making their food purchases[10]
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