title: Development and validation of the Perceived Food Environment Questionnaire in a French-Canadian population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire assessing perceived food environment in a French-Canadian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire, the Perceived Food Environment Questionnaire, was developed assessing perceived accessibility to healthy (nine items) and unhealthy foods (three items). A pre-test sample was recruited for a pilot testing of the questionnaire. For the validation study, another sample was recruited and completed the questionnaire twice. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the items to assess the number of factors (subscales). Cronbach's α was used to measure internal consistency reliability. Test-retest reliability was assessed with Pearson correlations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Online survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Men and women from the Québec City area (n 31 in the pre-test sample; n 150 in the validation study sample).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pilot testing did not lead to any change in the questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-subscale structure. The first subscale is composed of six items assessing accessibility to healthy foods and the second includes three items related to accessibility to unhealthy foods. Three items were removed from the questionnaire due to low loading on the two subscales. The subscales demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0·77 for healthy foods and 0·62 for unhealthy foods) and test-retest reliability (r=0·59 and 0·60, respectively; both P<0·0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Perceived Food Environment Questionnaire was developed for a French-Canadian population and demonstrated good psychometric properties. Further validation is recommended if the questionnaire is to be used in other populations.
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods,Laval University,2440 boulevard Hochelaga,Québec,QC,Canada,G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carbonneau
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods,Laval University,2440 boulevard Hochelaga,Québec,QC,Canada,G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robitaille
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods,Laval University,2440 boulevard Hochelaga,Québec,QC,Canada,G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lamarche
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods,Laval University,2440 boulevard Hochelaga,Québec,QC,Canada,G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Corneau
authors.affiliation: 1Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods,Laval University,2440 boulevard Hochelaga,Québec,QC,Canada,G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemieux
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D004032:Diet; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011792:Quebec; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Food environment; French; Perceptions; Questionnaire; Validation