TY - JOUR
T1 - Refining and implementing the Food Assortment Scoring Tool (FAST) in food pantries
AU - Caspi, Caitlin E.
AU - Grannon, Katherine Y.
AU - Wang, Qi
AU - Nanney, Marilyn S.
AU - King, Robert P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors 2018.
PY - 2018/10/1
Y1 - 2018/10/1
N2 - Objective: Hunger relief agencies have a limited capacity to monitor the nutritional quality of their food. Validated measures of food environments, such as the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010), are challenging to use due to their time intensity and requirement for precise nutrient information. A previous study used out-of-sample predictions to demonstrate that an alternative measure correlated well with the HEI-2010. The present study revised the Food Assortment Scoring Tool (FAST) to facilitate implementation and tested the tool's performance in a real-world food pantry setting. Design: We developed a FAST measure with thirteen scored categories and thirty-one sub-categories. FAST scores were generated by sorting and weighing foods in categories, multiplying each category's weight share by a healthfulness parameter and summing the categories (range 0-100). FAST was implemented by recording all food products moved over five days. Researchers collected FAST and HEI-2010 scores for food availability and foods selected by clients, to calculate correlations. Setting: Five food pantries in greater Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Subjects: Food carts of sixty food pantry clients. Results: The thirteen-category FAST correlated well with the HEI-2010 in prediction models (r = 0·68). FAST scores averaged 61·5 for food products moved, 63·8 for availability and 62·5 for client carts. As implemented in the real world, FAST demonstrated good correlation with the HEI-2010 (r = 0·66). Conclusions: The FAST is a flexible, valid tool to monitor the nutritional quality of food in pantries. Future studies are needed to test its use in monitoring improvements in food pantry nutritional quality over time.
AB - Objective: Hunger relief agencies have a limited capacity to monitor the nutritional quality of their food. Validated measures of food environments, such as the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010), are challenging to use due to their time intensity and requirement for precise nutrient information. A previous study used out-of-sample predictions to demonstrate that an alternative measure correlated well with the HEI-2010. The present study revised the Food Assortment Scoring Tool (FAST) to facilitate implementation and tested the tool's performance in a real-world food pantry setting. Design: We developed a FAST measure with thirteen scored categories and thirty-one sub-categories. FAST scores were generated by sorting and weighing foods in categories, multiplying each category's weight share by a healthfulness parameter and summing the categories (range 0-100). FAST was implemented by recording all food products moved over five days. Researchers collected FAST and HEI-2010 scores for food availability and foods selected by clients, to calculate correlations. Setting: Five food pantries in greater Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Subjects: Food carts of sixty food pantry clients. Results: The thirteen-category FAST correlated well with the HEI-2010 in prediction models (r = 0·68). FAST scores averaged 61·5 for food products moved, 63·8 for availability and 62·5 for client carts. As implemented in the real world, FAST demonstrated good correlation with the HEI-2010 (r = 0·66). Conclusions: The FAST is a flexible, valid tool to monitor the nutritional quality of food in pantries. Future studies are needed to test its use in monitoring improvements in food pantry nutritional quality over time.
KW - Food pantry
KW - Healthy Eating Index-2010
KW - Nutritional quality
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U2 - 10.1017/S1368980018001362
DO - 10.1017/S1368980018001362
M3 - Article
C2 - 29808784
AN - SCOPUS:85047878073
SN - 1368-9800
VL - 21
SP - 2548
EP - 2557
JO - Public health nutrition
JF - Public health nutrition
IS - 14
ER -