Evaluation Support
ECHO has evaluation expertise in practical and applied research utilizing surveys, interviews, and focus groups. ECHO can support design, employment, and analysis of data utilizing these assessment tools.
On the Rural Health and Nutrition Extension team, ECHO supported design and employment of repeated mid-session poll assessments, biannual surveys, and pre-/post-program evaluations.
Healthy Lifestyles Research Assistance
Expertise
ECHO's topic expertise includes chronic disease prevention and self-management through nutrition and physical activity. Current ECHO-related projects include individual-, family-, and group-level lifestyle management interventions, educational programs, food is medicine approaches (including produce prescription programs), and policy, system, and environmental supports of healthy eating and physical activity.
Veggie Meters
The Veggie Meter® spectroscopy-based device quantifies skin carotenoids as a proxy of fruit and vegetable intake. Veggie Meters® are easily portable, making them a feasible approach for objective diet quality (specifically fruit and vegetable intake) assessment in community-based settings. Validation studies of Veggie Meter® skin carotenoid scores have indicated high correlation with serum quantities (R = 0.81, p < 0.001). Skin carotenoid scores, with a possible range of 0-800, are plotted relative to a reference population of the same age, sex, and race/ethnicity of the participant. While data equating Veggie Meter® score to cup amount of fruits and vegetables consumed is still emerging, preliminary data suggests that each 100 units corresponds to approximately 1 cup fruits/vegetables. A Veggie Meter® score of 280-480 is generally considered an indicator of adequate fruit and vegetable intake.
To inquire about using a Veggie Meter for your research, contact Dr. Wilson.
