Objective: Due to a proliferation of measures for different components of the home environment related to childhood obesity, the purpose of the present systematic review was to examine these tools and the degree to which they can validly and reliably assess the home environment.Design: Relevant manuscripts published between 1998 and 2010 were obtained through electronic database searches and manual searches of reference lists. Manuscripts were included if the researchers reported on a measure of the home environment related to child eating and physical activity (PA) and childhood obesity and reported on at least one psychometric property.Results: Of the forty papers reviewed, 48 % discussed some aspect of parenting specific to food. Fifty-per cent of the manuscripts measured food availability/accessibility, 18 % measured PA availability/accessibility, 20 % measured media availability/accessibility, 30 % focused on feeding style, 23 % focused on parenting related to PA and 20 % focused on parenting related to screen time.Conclusions: Many researchers chose to design new measures for their studies but often the items employed were brief and there was a lack of transparency in the psychometric properties. Many of the current measures of the home food and PA environment focus on one or two constructs; more comprehensive measures as well as short screeners guided by theoretical models are necessary to capture influences in the home on food and PA behaviours of children. Finally, the current measures of the home environment do not necessarily translate to specific sub-populations. Recommendations were made for future validation of measures in terms of appropriate psychometric testing.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation has been demonstrated to improve household food insecurity, yet not all those who are eligible for the program participate. This article describes findings from both peer-reviewed and grey literature pertaining to factors that influence SNAP participation. SNAP participation has demonstrated benefits for low-income individuals and families for improving dietary intake, reducing food insecurity, and ultimately providing one strategy to alleviate poverty. The findings are described with a social science and behavioral lens in order to glean public health implications and recommendations from a broad array of literature. Factors influencing SNAP participation across the social–ecological model are discussed. Macro- and microlevel recommendations are made and actions applicable in targeted outreach, program, and organizational strategies are recommended.

The purpose of this review was to identify how rural and urban food access differs across small food stores as well as the types of research strategies and methodologies that have been applied in each setting in the U.S. Manuscripts were included in the review if they were published in English over the past ten years, with a clear delineation between urban and/or rural, conducted in the U.S., and reported data from small food store research. After elimination, 19 manuscripts representing rural (n = 5) and urban (n = 14) settings were included in the final review. The review was conducted in Nebraska between January 2015 and May 2015. Findings from the reviewed manuscripts revealed that rural communities might face different challenges with healthy food access in small food stores when compared to urban settings. In particular, small food stores in rural areas lacked healthy food options largely because storeowners perceived that their customers would not purchase healthier items and due to challenges with distribution. Conversely, studies reporting on small food stores in urban areas suggest challenges with transportation and safety concerns. Research on small food stores is nascent and further research, especially intervention studies, is needed. Further, less evidence exists on healthy food access, in particular intervention testing on small food store research in rural areas.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses an occupational health risk to food system workers including farmers/producers, grocery store workers, emergency food system staff and volunteers (e.g., food pantry workers), and others. These food system workers have been pushed to the front-line of this pandemic, providing essential services that support food consumption for all Americans. Food system workers are some of the most economically vulnerable populations and are at risk of further financial disparities and contraction of COVID-19 during this pandemic. As we continue to grapple with the best strategies to support the food system and mitigate concerns around the spread of COVID-19, appropriate measures must be considered to better protect and support front-line food system workers that safeguard food access for all Americans.

Low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake is a leading risk factor for chronic disease globally as well as in the United States. Much of the population does not consume the recommended servings of FV daily. This paper describes the development of psychosocial measures of FV intake for inclusion in the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s 2007 Food Attitudes and Behaviors Survey. This was a cross-sectional study among 3,397 adults from the United States. Scales included conventional constructs shown to be correlated with fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) in prior studies (e.g., self-efficacy, social support), and novel constructs that have been measured in few- to- no studies (e.g., views on vegetarianism, neophobia). FVI was assessed with an eight-item screener. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, and regression analyses were conducted. Psychosocial scales with Cronbach’s alpha ≥0.68 were self-efficacy, social support, perceived barriers and benefits of eating FVs, views on vegetarianism, autonomous and controlled motivation, and preference for FVs. Conventional scales that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI were self-efficacy, social support, and perceived barriers to eating FVs. Novel scales that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI were autonomous motivation, and preference for vegetables. Other single items that were associated (p<0.05) with FVI included knowledge of FV recommendations, FVI “while growing up”, and daily water consumption. These findings may inform future behavioral interventions as well as further exploration of other potential factors to promote and support FVI.