243195 Developing an Environmental Scan Tool for Monitoring Calorie Posting and Sodium Labeling in Los Angeles County Restaurants

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Brenda Robles, MPH , Los Angeles Department of Public Health, RENEW LA County(Communities Putting Prevention to Work, Los Angeles, CA
Patricia Cummings, MPH , Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Office of Senior Health, Los Angeles, CA
Gloria Kim, MPH , Office of Senior Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Lindsey Burbage, MPH , Los Angeles Department of Public Health, RENEW LA County(Communities Putting Prevention to Work), Los Angeles, CA
Obi Ogamba, REHS , Environmental Health, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Baldwin Park, CA
Kenneth Murray, REHS , Environmental Protection, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Baldwin Park, CA
Veronica Bauchman, REHS , Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health, Baldwin Park, CA
Margaret Shih, MD, PhD , Department of Public Health, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Tony Kuo, MD, MSHS , Public Health/Family Medicine, County of Los Angeles/UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Background: In light of recently adopted state (California Senate Bill 1420) and federal menu labeling requirements (Affordable Care Act of 2009), the need for reliable methods to monitor restaurant compliance with these new regulations is growing. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health recently developed a pilot program to monitor menu labeling in the region's restaurants. As part of this program, an environmental scan tool was developed for use by health inspectors. This paper describes preliminary findings from feasibility testing of this tool. Methods: Using a five-stage development and feasibility evaluation approach, we: 1) systematically identified concepts specific to the state and federal menu labeling provisions; 2) operationalized and constructed variables from these concepts; 3) formulated instrument measures from these variables; 4) adapted several other items from a previously validated restaurant environment inspection tool (NEMS-R); and 5) assigned five trained staff to pre-test the tool. Results: Tool users generally rated the environmental scan instrument as easy to use, and on average, took approximately 20 minutes to complete. The tool's inter-rater reliability (kappa= .60) suggests substantial agreement between users. Conclusions: Although further refinements are needed, preliminary findings indicate this tool is straightforward and shows promise as an instrument that can be incorporated into the existing Los Angeles County restaurant hygiene inspection process to monitor menu labeling in restaurant chains that must comply with state and federal laws. The tool may be adapted in the future to other jurisdictions interested in implementing similar menu labeling monitoring programs.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
1) Describe the initial development of a menu labeling monitoring program (e.g. validating tools, assessing feasibility) that focuses on evaluating the restaurant environment in Los Angeles County. 2)Assess the inter-rater reliability of the restaurant environmental scan tool developed for the Los Angeles County Menu Labeling Monitoring Program. 3)Examine the feasibility of integrating a menu labeling monitoring program into existing Los Angeles County Restaurant Hygiene Inspection Program.

Keywords: Data/Surveillance, Public Health Legislation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I received an MPH in Community Health Sciences, work for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and am the point person who led the development of the Los Angeles County Menu Labeling Monitoring Program tools and protocols described in this abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.