ORIGINAL RESEARCH Development and reproducibility of a tool to assess school food-purchasing practices and lifestyle habits of Australian primary school-aged children Meghan FINCH, 1,2 Andrea BEGLEY, 3 Rachel SUTHERLAND, 1,2 Michelle HARRISON 4 and Clare COLLINS 2 1 Hunter Population Health, Wallsend, Schools of 2 Health Sciences and 4 Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, and 3 Nutrition and Dietetics Program, School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Abstract Objective: To describe the development and reproducibility of a self-report instrument, for use with children in years 4–6, to identify sources of food eaten during the day, and type and frequency of food purchases at school. Design: Tool development stages included formulation of content and format, expert review, piloting and a test–retest study. Subjects/setting: The pilot study included school students (n = 20) in years 4 and 5 (seven girls, mean age 9.7  0.7 years) attending an Australian public primary school. The test–retest study was performed in a large metropolitan public primary school (n = 245 children, 52% female, mean age 10.7  0.91 years) including children from years 4 (n = 88), 5 (n = 84) and 6 (n = 73). Statistical analysis: A Kappa statistic was used to assess level of agreement between the two time periods separated by 1 week. The results were analysed using SAS version 8.2 with each question compared at time 1 and 2. Results: The mean kappa was 0.529 using pairings from 17 questions. Values ranged from 0.18 to 0.71 (CI 0.46–0.60). Conclusions and applications: The School Eating Habits and Lifestyle Survey has been developed and pilot-tested in primary school-aged children and shown to have moderate stability over time. The results show that each phase of development, particularly those spent in consultation and testing, led to progressive improvement of this instrument. This process improved the quality of information produced and gave insights to self-report of dietary intake and behaviours among children. Key words: children, food habit, nutrition survey, purchasing behaviour, school canteen. INTRODUCTION Changes in the physical eating environment of schools together with the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity have prompted many nutrition experts and public health advocates to question whether the current school environ- ment supports and promotes the development of healthy eating as normative childhood behaviour. 1–3 In schools, efforts can be directed to improving food intake through a multisectorial approach, incorporating the school food service and catering facilities. 4 Recognition of this opportu- nity has resulted in a worldwide trend towards the develop- ment of guidelines and standards for provision of healthy food choices in schools. 5–8 Unlike the USA where a National School Lunch program provides lunch to approximately 59% of all public school children, most children in Australia (86%) bring their lunch from home. 9,10 Australian school food services are usually limited to an on-campus canteen that provides the opportu- nity to purchase food and drinks without leaving the school grounds. 9 While they most commonly operate during the morning tea and lunch breaks, each differs in their manage- ment systems, operating hours, price and range of products offered for sale. 9 M. Finch, MPH, Public Health Nutritionist, Conjoint Lecturer in Nutri- tion and Dietetics A. Begley, MPH, APD, Lecturer R. Sutherland, MPH, APD, Nutrition Program Manager, Conjoint Lec- turer in Nutrition and Dietetics M. Harrison, GradDipMedStat, Lecturer/Tutor C. Collins, PhD, APD, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics Correspondence: C. Collins, Mail Box 38 Hunter Building, Callaghan, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. Email: clare.collins@newcastle.edu.au Nutrition & Dietetics 2007; 64: 86–92 DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-0080.2007.00148.x © 2007 The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Dietitians Association of Australia 86