Abstract
Objective
This review describes available measures of retail food store environments, including
data collection methods, characteristics of measures, the dimensions most commonly
captured across methods, and their strengths and limitations.
Methods
Articles were included if they were published between 1990 and 2015 in an English-language
peer-reviewed journal and presented original research findings on the development
and/or use of a measure or method to assess retail food store environments. Four sources
were used, including literature databases, backward searching of identified articles,
published reviews, and measurement registries.
Results
From 3,013 citations identified, 125 observational studies and 5 studies that used
sales records were reviewed in-depth. Most studies were cross-sectional and based
in the US. The most common tools used were the US Department of Agriculture's Thrifty
Food Plan and the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores. The most common
attribute captured was availability of healthful options, followed by price. Measurement
quality indicators were minimal and focused mainly on assessments of reliability.
Implications for Research and Practice
Two widely used tools to measure retail food store environments are available and
can be refined and adapted. Standardization of measurement across studies and reports
of measurement quality (eg, reliability, validity) may better inform practice and
policy changes.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 4,
2016
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
