Using a brief household food inventory as an environmental indicator of individual dietary practices.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined whether foods in household pantries are an indicator of house-hold members' diet.


METHODS
In a random-digit-dial survey, the presence in the house of 15 high-fat foods was assessed with whoever answered the phone. A randomly selected household member was surveyed about diet-related behaviors (n = 1002).


RESULTS
Individuals in the precontemplation stage of dietary change had more high-fat foods in their pantry than those in maintenance (means of 7.4 and 5.8, respectively). Individuals with low-fat pantries had an intake of 32% energy from fat vs 37% for those with high-fat pantries.


CONCLUSIONS
Household food inventories are a practical and valid approach to monitoring dietary behaviors in community-based studies.
Patterson
R E
RE
Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
Kristal
A R
AR
Shannon
J
J
Hunt
J R
JR
White
E
E
D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005190:Family; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation
D004041:Dietary Fats