[previously known as Choose Healthy Options for Wellness (CHOW) and Develop Improved Nutrition Environment (DINE)]
The m-NEAT was developed to help DoD communities measure accessibility to healthy food options. The tool was inspired by the Michigan Department of Community Health and Michigan Public Health Institute's assessment tool called NEAT (Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool).
m-NEAT - Community
- Get m-NEAT Community Assessment Tool
- Submit your assessment via e-mail (please attach your completed worksheet):
- Get professional consultation about your assessment results:
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The purpose of a community assessment is to help health promotion professionals, commanding officers and other stakeholders collect information to support decisions about access to healthy foods. m-NEAT appraisals assess environmental factors and policies at the community level that support healthy eating. Military communities that make healthy foods accessible can enhance the health of each service and family member.
The m-NEAT Appraisal can help:
- Create a community nutrition coalition or committee to continually address issues on an on-going basis.
- Gather information about the community in relation to the nutrition environment.
- Engage community members and stakeholders in the project.
- Develop a strategic plan to address and monitor community assets and deficits.
Environmental factors that affect eating behaviors are numerous, but there has been limited work done on the subject. Some demographic variables such as age, ethnicity, or sex cannot be changed; things such as dietary intake, sedentary lifestyle, and geographic locations to consume meals and snacks can be modified. Examples of nutrition environmental changes include increasing the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables at worksites, galleys and food courts; working with NEXCOM and AAFES food courts and contracted food services to provide menu recipe analysis; encouraging command worksites to provide formal policies so that healthy snacks are provided at meetings; increasing media promotion of healthy foods; or modifying other food service environments to provide a greater number of options that are healthier. The changes listed are not exhaustive of those that can occur, but provide examples of the way the environment influences eating behavior.
The first step in improving a military community's support of healthy eating is the completion of the m-NEAT appaisal.
Content last reviewed on 30 April 2012.