Measuring family food environments in diverse families with young children

This study reports the development and validation of the 20 item Family Food Behavior Survey, a measure designed to assess broad components of the family food environment that may contribute to child overweight. In a diverse sample of 38 parents, factor analyses verified 4 domains: (1) maternal control of child eating behavior; (2) maternal presence during eating; (3) child choice, and (4) organization of eating environment. All domains achieved acceptable internal reliability (αs =  .73, −.83), and test–retest reliability. Mothers of overweight children scored significantly lower on maternal presence and somewhat higher on maternal control than mothers of normal weight children.