Measuring cues for healthy choices on restaurant menus: development and testing of a measurement instrument.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and test the Menu Checklist, an instrument to be used by community members to assess cues for healthy choices in restaurants.


METHODS
Menus from 14 restaurants were coded independently by two trained community reviewers to test the interrater reliability of the instrument.


METHODS
A low-income, urban, African-American community in Los Angeles, California.


METHODS
Restaurants were selected based on community perceptions of their potential to be included in a nutrition education and advocacy program to improve the availability of healthy foods.


METHODS
The Menu Checklist was adapted from previously tested measurement tools developed by the Prevention Research Center at Saint Louis University. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), kappa statistics, and percent agreements were calculated to assess interrater reliability. Descriptive statistics were calculated to show the availability of cues for healthy foods.


RESULTS
The interrater reliability coefficients for the majority of items were high (.93-1.0). Labeling on restaurant menus was rare, as were low-fat choices. Fruits and vegetables were readily available: 31% of all entrees included one serving and 39% of all appetizers were primarily fruits and vegetables.


CONCLUSIONS
The Menu Checklist is a reliable, low-cost means for community members to collect data on influences on food choices in restaurants.
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Diana
D
Cassady
Robyn
R
Housemann
Cindy
C
Dagher
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005518:Food Preferences; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015141:Los Angeles; D008612:Menu Planning; D015588:Observer Variation; D012147:Restaurants