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- Title
Refining and implementing the Food Assortment Scoring Tool (FAST) in food pantries.
- Authors
Caspi, Caitlin E; Grannon, Katherine Y; Wang, Qi; Nanney, Marilyn S; King, Robert P
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>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.<bold>Design: </bold>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.<bold>Setting: </bold>Five food pantries in greater Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.<bold>Subjects: </bold>Food carts of sixty food pantry clients.<bold>Results: </bold>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).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>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.
- Subjects
MINNEAPOLIS (Minn.); UNITED States; SAINT Paul (Minn.); MINNESOTA; PANTRIES; MOBILE food services; FOOD quality; NUTRITIONAL requirements; FOOD; COMPARATIVE studies; FOOD relief; FOOD supply; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; RESEARCH; RESEARCH funding; EVALUATION research; NUTRITIONAL value
- Publication
Public Health Nutrition, 2018, Vol 21, Issue 14, p2548
- ISSN
1368-9800
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1017/S1368980018001362