| Detailed Objective: This project will develop a short questionnaire that will assess important dietary behaviors associated with dietary quality and that will be widely usable with low-income populations across the United States. The questionnaire will be made up of a core set of questions that will assess broad areas of dietary behavior as emphasized by Federal dietary guidance and exemplified by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the 2005 update of the USDA Food Guidance System. The questionnaire also will include modules that expand on the core questionnaire to provide additional information on particular topic areas and that can be flexibly added, as time, money, and respondent burden considerations permit. The questionnaire will be appropriate for use in a telephone survey, although it also may be used in face-to-face situations.
The questionnaire is being developed in response to an identified need for improved, standardized measures of dietary behaviors targeted for emphasis as part of the nutrition education component of the Food Stamp Program. Although optional, Food Stamp Nutrition Education is being conducted in 50 States, 2 Territories, and the District of Columbia (as of 2004). USDA is interested in better assessing the dietary improvement needs of the target population and tracking progress in improving diet quality. A standardized short set of questions that can be added to existing surveys or used as a component of a survey or study was identified as a priority for improving assessment. |