EVALUATING COMMUNITY-BASED NUTRITION-PROGRAMS - COMPARING GROCERY STORE AND INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL SURVEY MEASURES OF PROGRAM IMPACT

Background. This paper examines whether an ''environmental indicator'' -a survey of grocery store product displays-can provide a realistic al ternative to individual-level telephone surveys for the evaluation of community-based nutrition programs. Methods. Telephone and grocery sto re measures were used separately to evaluate three community-level die tary interventions that were part of the Kaiser Family Foundation Comm unity Health Promotion Grants Program (CHPGP). Both surveys were condu cted in the three intervention and seven control communities at three points in time: 1988, 1990, and 1992. The grocery store survey recorde d the relative availability of low-fat and high-fiber products and the amount of store-provided health-education information. Self-reported dietary intake of residents was obtained in the same communities using a telephone survey. Results. In the one community in which the interv ention seemed to have contributed to reduced fat consumption, the groc ery store and telephone surveys showed very similar relative changes f or the only variable they had in common, low-fat milk consumption. In another community, bath survey approaches indicated that there was no change or perhaps a slight worsening in the treatment relative to the controls. The third community produced the only contradictory results: the telephone survey suggested no change or perhaps a worsening, whil e the grocery store results were generally positive, though not statis tically significant. Conclusion. These results, combined with the much lower cost of the grocery store survey, justify further pursuit of en vironmental indicators as an evaluation tool. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.