The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR) recently updated the Measures Registry – a free, online searchable database of diet and physical activity measures relevant to childhood obesity research. The purpose of the Measures Registry is to standardize use of common measures and research methods across childhood obesity research at the individual, community, and population levels.
NCCOR conducted a comprehensive literature review of all articles published from September 2015 through September 2017 to identify new measures and tools that met the established Measures Registry standards. After reviewing and abstracting the full-text versions of relevant studies, 188 new articles with valid and reliable measures of individual diet, food environment, individual physical activity, and physical activity environment were added to the Measures Registry.
A sampling of these new tools is highlighted below:
- Behavioural Lifestyle Changes Questionnaire for 9 to 17 Year Olds: An in-person, self-administered questionnaire designed to measure stages of change regarding individual dietary and physical activity behaviors. This questionnaire, available in English and Spanish, is designed for research on stages involved with behavior changes in school-based populations.
- International Fitness Scale (IFIS) for 9 to 17 Year Olds: A self-report questionnaire designed to measure perceived overall individual physical activity among youth and adolescent populations. This questionnaire has established validity and reliability for both English and Spanish-speaking populations.
- Farm to School Activity Tracker (F2SAT) for Third to Fifth Graders: A questionnaire developed for Farm to School programs to measure their impacts on four domains of food environments in schools, including school meals, classroom education, engagement activities, and gardening activities.
- Home Opportunities for Physical Activity Check-Up (HOP-Up) for 2 to 5 Years Olds: A brief, self-report inventory questionnaire designed to help parents, practitioners, and researchers measure physical activity and food environments in and around the home.
All recently added measures are available for use and can be found at www.nccor.org/measures. Additional support in selecting appropriate measures for your work is available in the Measures Registry User Guides.