Development of a Quality Score for the Home Food Environment Using the Home-IDEA2 and the Healthy Eating Index-2010

The home food environment (HFE) is an important factor in the development of food preferences and habits in young children, and the availability of foods within the home reflects dietary intake in both adults and children. Therefore, it is important to consider the holistic quality of the HFE. The purpose of this study was to apply the Healthy Eating Index (HEI; a measure of diet quality in conformance to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) algorithm to the Home-IDEA2, a valid and reliable food inventory checklist, to develop a Home-IDEA2 HEI Score. After an initial score was developed, it was psychometrically tested for content, criterion, and construct validity. Content validity testing resulted in 104 foods being retained. Internal criterion testing demonstrated that 42 foods (40%) changed component scores by >5%; however, no single food changed a total Home-IDEA2 HEI score by >5%. Testing of hypothetical HFEs resulted in a range of scores in the expected directions, establishing sensitivity to varied HFEs. This study resulted in a validated methodology to assess the overall quality of the HFE, thus contributing a novel approach for examining home food environments. Future research can test interventions modifying the HFE quality to improve individual dietary intake.