International Scholarly Research Network ISRN Obesity Volume 2012, Article ID 734682, 7 pages doi:10.5402/2012/734682 Research Article Healthy Eating Vital Sign: A New Assessment Tool for Eating Behaviors Jessica L. J. Greenwood, 1 Junji Lin, 2 Danita Arguello, 3 Trever Ball, 3 and Janet M. Shaw 3 1 Division of Public Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, 375 Chipeta Way, Ste A, SLC, UT 84108, USA 2 Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center, University of Utah, 421 Wakara Way, Suite 208, SLC, UT 84112, USA 3 Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, SLC, UT 84112, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Jessica L. J. Greenwood, jessica.greenwood@hsc.utah.edu Received 9 April 2012; Accepted 15 May 2012 Academic Editors: E. K. Naderali, C. Schmidt, and D. Tekin Copyright © 2012 Jessica L. J. Greenwood et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Most dietary questionnaires are not created for use in a clinical setting for an adult health exam. We created the Healthy Eating Vital Sign (HEVS) to assess eating behaviors associated with excess weight. This study investigated the validity and reliability of the HEVS. Methods. Using a cross-sectional study design, participants responded to the HEVS and the Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (BFFQ). We analyzed the data descriptively, and, with Pearson’s correlation and Cronbach coefficient alpha. Results. We found moderate correlation (rho > 0.3) between multiple items of the HEVS and BFFQ. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.49. Conclusion. Our results support the criterion validity and internal reliability of the HEVS as compared to the BFFQ. The HEVS can help launch a dialogue between patients and providers to monitor and potentially manage dietary behaviors associated with many chronic health conditions, including obesity. 1. Introduction The United States (US) did not meet the Healthy People 2010 objective to decrease the prevalence of adult obesity to 15% [1]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 27% of US adults are obese [2]. Flegal et al. report more dismal statistics; 68% of adults are overweight (BMI ≥ 25) and 34% are obese (BMI ≥ 30) [3]. Multiple factors influence energy balance, or energy intake versus energy expenditure. However, primary care providers have the opportunity to engage with people and potentially affect behaviors that can tilt the energy balance [4]. A provider’s attention to weight has great influence on patients [5, 6]. Therefore, effectively and efficiently managing and preventing overweight and obesity in the primary care setting is warranted [7]. Traditionally, food frequency questionnaires are used to assess habitual dietary behavior. The Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (BFFQ) is a valid and reliable instrument used as a standard tool for nutrition assessment [8, 9]. The BFFQ contains more than 100 questions, takes approximately 45 minutes to complete, and focuses on nutrient intake rather than eating behaviors. Because of its length and the complexities involved in dietary analysis, the BFFQ is too cumbersome for routine clinical screening of patients’ nutritional habits. Recognizing this problem, Glasgow et al. recommended Starting the Conversation-(STC) Diet and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) as practical measures for clinical use [10]. The STC-Diet is a 7-item instrument to assess dietary behaviors, created for the New Leaf (Well-Integrated Screening and Evalu- ation for Women in Massachusetts, Arizona and North Carolina) (WISEWOMAN) intervention program [11]. To our knowledge, this scale has not been studied for validity and reliability. The SDSCA is an 11-item survey that assesses many health indicators for diabetic patients. It includes two questions of specific foods eaten in the last 7 days: fruits and vegetables, and high fat foods [12]. These questionnaires, however, were not created for use in a clinical setting for a routine adult health exam.