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Browsing Faculty of Medical Sciences Library by Subject "Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey"

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    Assessing the foodscape of a Small Island Developing State: The Barbados Nutrition Environment Survey (Barbados-NEMS) for Stores
    (The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, 2022-01-28) Whiteman, Stephanie; Whiteman, Stephanie
    The food environment, also known as the foodscape, has many elements that interact which eventually influence our food choices and consumption. One of these elements is known as the consumer food environment. The consumer food environment is the area of the foodscape in which the individual/consumer interacts with the food environment, with the food retailers. Features of the consumer food environment include availability of food items, accessibility of the food stores and pricing of the food items as well as facilitators and barriers to healthy eating. The aims of this study are to assess the reliability of the Barbados Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey for Stores and to evaluate the consumer food environment of Barbados. A total of 40% of food stores (n=50) across all 11 parishes of Barbados were assessed using the Barbados Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey between September – November 2021. The food stores were categorized into three main types; Wholesale retailers, Supermarket/Grocery Stores and Mini-Mart/Convenience Stores. The retail food outlets were identified, enumerated, classified and mapped using multiple data sources, including the telephone business directory and a list of all registered food outlets obtained from the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) of Barbados. Each store was independently audited by pairs of trained raters. Each rater surveyed 19 food categories and assesses the availability, quality and price of these food items and their healthier alternative. To determine inter-rater reliability, Percent agreement and Kappa statistics were used for binary and categorial variables and intra-class correlations coefficients (ICC) were used for continuous variables. Food environment scores were computed for each store using the dimensions of Variety, Availability, Price and Quality. Essentially, two points were awarded for availability and increased variety of healthier alternatives, and additional 2 points will be awarded when a lower price is offered for a healthier alternative and a negative point will be given when the healthier alternative is higher in price. With regards to quality, up to 3 points were awarded for stores having the majority of their fresh/frozen produce having acceptable quality. The total score ranges from -15 to 115.