The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS) – A Systematic Review

Jun 20, 2023

A Tool for Understanding the Food Environment

The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS) is a set of tools that researchers use to assess the availability of healthy food options in stores and restaurants. NEMS tools have been used in research for over 15 years and have been adapted for diverse settings and populations.

A recent systematic review published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (AJPM) examined how NEMS tools have been used in published research. The review found that 190 articles from 18 countries had used NEMS tools. Most studies (69.5%) used a modified version of NEMS tools, and there were 23 intervention studies that used measures from NEMS tools or adaptations as outcomes, moderators, or process assessments.

 

Adapting to the times

The review also found that 41% (n=78) of the articles evaluated inter-rater reliability, and 17% (n=33) evaluated test–retest reliability. This suggests that NEMS tools are generally reliable and valid measures of the food environment.

The review concluded that NEMS measures have played an important role in the growth of research on food environments. NEMS tools have helped researchers to explore the relationships among healthy food availability, demographic variables, eating behaviors, health outcomes, and intervention-driven changes in food environments.

The review also noted that the food environment is constantly changing, so NEMS measures should continue to evolve. Researchers should document the data quality of modifications and use in new settings.

Conclusion

NEMS tools are a valuable tool for understanding the food environment. They have been used in a wide variety of research settings and have helped to advance our understanding of the relationships between the food environment and health. As the food environment continues to change, NEMS tools should continue to evolve to meet the needs of researchers.

Glanz K, Fultz AK, Sallis JF, Clawson M, McLaughlin KC, Green S, Saelens BE. Use of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey: A Systematic Review. Am J Prev Med., 65:1, 131-142, July 2023. EPub March 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.02.008. PMID: 36990939.

NEMS Website

Presentations: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium April 2017

May 31, 2017

Click the links below to view the a pdf of each presenter’s slides. You can find more information on the symposium here.

 

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 Keynote : Margo Wootan

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 Keynote : Mariana Chilton

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 : Alice Ammerman

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 : Cheryl Bettigole

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Jamie Chriqui

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Tracy Fox

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Allison Karpyn

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 : Carolyn Johnson

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017 : Stephenie Lemon

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Yael Lehman and Brian Lang

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Jennifer Pomeranz

POWERPOINT: UPenn PRC Food/Obesity Symposium 2017: Amy Yaroch

UPenn PRC Impact Symposium – Accelerating Policies & Research on Food Access, Diet, and Obesity Prevention

May 3, 2017

On Friday, April 28th, the UPenn PRC hosted ” Accelerating Policies & Research on Food Access, Diet, and Obesity Prevention”, a day-long symposium which brought together prevention health researchers and public health advocates to discuss today’s food environment and focus on future directions for this important health topic. Special thanks to the Planning Committee and the UPenn PRC Training Core faculty and staff for their leadership and support in making this event possible.
 
 
 

 

PRC Directors Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, and Kevin Volpp, MD, MPH, with morning Keynote Speaker Margo Wooten ScD, Center for Science in the Public Interest, who spoke on: Supporting Healthy Eating Through Nutrition Policy
 
 

 

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Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH, Center for Hunger-Free Communities, delivered the afternoon Keynote: From Evidence on Hunger, to Action on Food, to Community Transformation.

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Jennifer Pomeranz, JD, MPH, NYU College of Global Public Health

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Tracy Fox, MPH, RD, Food, Nutrition & Policy Consultants, LLC

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Amy Yaroch, PhD, Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition

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Allison Karpyn, PhD, University of Delaware: Achieving Food Security in Small Island Developing States, the Bahamas Example

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Cheryl Bettigole, MD, MPH, Philadelphia Department of Public Health: Improving Health Through Food Policies

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Carolyn Cannuscio, ScD, ScM, University of Pennsylvania: Advancing Literacy Through Cooking

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Yael Lehmann, MS, The Food Trust, and Brian Lang, MA, National Campaign for Healthy Food Access: Public Policy & Healthy Food Access in the Trump Era

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Breakout Session Group Report Out. Alyssa Yackle, MPA, Amy Bleakley, PhD, MPH, Moriah Hall, MPH, Ben Young, all from the University of Pennsylvania. Moderated by Douglas J. Wiebe, PhD, UPenn PRC Training Core Lead

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Afternoon Panel Session: Translating Research into High Impact Policy. Jamie Chriqui, PhD, MHS, University of Illinois Chicago PRC,Stephenie Lemon, PhD, UMass Worcester PRC, Alice Ammerman, DrPH, University of North Carolina PRC, Carolyn Johnson, PhD, Tulane PRC

Healthy Foods Take a Back Seat to Junk Food When It Comes to Marketing: PRC Director Karen Glanz on Knowledge@Wharton

Dec 19, 2016

UPenn PRC Director Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, was interviewed with Penn Professor Jason Riis by Dan Loney on Knowledge@Wharton about how major brand marketing favors junk food over healthy food options in the consumer marketplace.  “Food production companies are in the business of making profit, not making healthier food,” Glanz noted, adding that short-term corporate expectations based on quarterly earnings hinder a long-term strategy to build consumer relationships with healthier food choices.

“Do they market healthy foods as heavily as unhealthy foods? Do healthy foods get the same bells and whistles and kid-friendly appeals as the bad stuff?” Glanz questioned, adding that the build-up of consumer dependence on salt, sugar, and fat has taken place over many years, a result of research and marketing that targets those taste cravings in consumers.

Glanz observed there has been more success in the promotion of low and zero calorie drinks and bottled water. “The beverage market is interesting and has a different trajectory than the food and snack market,” says Glanz. “Calorie-free drinks are well-established.  They sell less but sell well.”

Glanz also gave a nod to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s healthy eating and Let’s Move initiatives. “The First Lady’s signature programs have been a catalyst for promoting health. They’re two sides of the same issue.”

 

 

Philly’s New Soda Tax: PRC Director Karen Glanz Evaluates the Implications on Knowledge@Wharton

Jun 21, 2016

 

As a guest on Knowledge@Wharton radio, UPenn PRC Director Karen Glanz evaluated the health and financial implications of the Philadelphia’s new “soda tax” passed by City Council on June 16, 2016.

According to Glanz, while a difference in consumption could be seen within a year or two of implementation, the tax’s impact on disease risk factors may not be evident for another three to five years.

New Food Labeling Guidelines: Karen Glanz Unpacks the Facts on Knowledge@Wharton

Jun 15, 2016

 

UPenn PRC Director, Karen Glanz, PhD, and Wharton marketing professor, Jason Riis discussed the new Federal food labeling guidelines on the June 13, 2016 edition of Knowledge@Wharton.

Observing that past labeling revisions often were driven by a single concern, such as trans fats or sugar, Glanz sees the shift towards a more comprehensive approach to portion sizes and total calorie intake as beneficial . “If these labels can nudge things in that direction and/or nudge the industry to reformulate the foods that will be less high-calorie, then that could move things without necessarily depending on people’s conscious decision-making,” she said.

“That all hinges on whether people actually read it and understand it, and whether it is easy to see and digest,” Glanz said. Displaying the nutrition information on the front of packs ensures that “consumers don’t have to turn the pack around to see that, or bring out their reading glasses,”

 

Controversies in New US Dietary Guidelines: UPenn Director Karen Glanz, PhD, on Knowledge@Wharton

Feb 18, 2016

Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH,  UPenn PRC Director, Co-Principal Investigator on The Healthy Weigh Study and Principal Investigator on The Skin Cancer Communication Project, spoke with Dan Loney on Knowledge@Wharton, the Wharton Business Radio program, about the new US government dietary guidelines.  Glanz noted how the sugar and meat industries hold a heavy influence on the government’s new dietary guidelines.

“The 2015 guidelines] are without question the result of a process that combines science, business, lobbying, and special interests,” Glanz said. One of the food categories vigorously represented by lobbyists in Washington, D.C., is sugar. Although the new guidelines recommend cutting down on sugar, they do not call out the well-documented need for Americans to reduce their consumption of sugary beverages. “Undoubtedly,” Glanz told Loney, “that reflects some industry influence.”

This influence comes from the sugar industry’s $20 billion annual impact on the national economy: a significant sum, but one that pales in comparison to the $44 billion annual impact of the beef industry.  Although the new guidelines may be confusing for some, Glanz says those who work in the field of nutrition recognize what the government guidelines carefully omitted or included.

 

 

The link to Dr. Glanz’s interview will be posted here when it becomes available from the Best of Knowledge@Wharton.

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2016-02-18/features/pik-professor-discusses-controversial-new-dietary-guidelines

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/category/business-radio/

Link between red and processed meat and cancer on Knowledge@Wharton

Nov 30, 2015

On SiriusXM’s Knowledge@Wharton, Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, UPenn PRC Director and Professor of Epidemiology, and Jason Riis, PhD, Marketing Lecturer at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, discussed how the World Health Organization came to its conclusions about a link between red & processed meats and colorectal cancer, how important it is to understand the measurements that were used, and how cancers and diseases other than colorectal cancer should be considered among the health risks.

Read the WHO Q & A here.

https://businessradio.wharton.upenn.edu/bestof/knowledge-@wharton/?h=jra57

Dr. Carmen Guerra in The Philadelphia Inquirer on the WHO report regarding processed meats and cancer risks

Nov 19, 2015

In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE, discussed the new World Health Organization’s conclusions about carcinogens in bacon and other processed meats and the overall picture for cancer risks.  Dr. Guerra is a Co-Investigator on the UPenn PRC Cancer Prevention & Control Research Network Center

 

http://articles.philly.com/2015-11-08/news/68091045_1_cancer-risk-breast-cancer-cancer-cases