DESKTOP REFERENCE FOR SERVING SIZES

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The specific aim of this proposed project is to develop and test educational and reference tool on food serving size. This desktop reference can be used first in training health professionals, and second as an aid in clinical and epidemiologic nutritional assessments. The Phase I objective is to establish the feasibility of resizing foods or containers displayed on the screen, using either a mouse or a writing tablet. Specifically in Phase I, the USDA Food Pyramid Guide and the USDA data on food consumption of individuals during the 1994-1996 national survey will be used to create 3 photographs of reference sizes: I) the Food Pyramid serving size, 2) the median serving amount and 3) 95th percentile of serving amount consumed by the US population for the same food item. Photographs will be taken using a common background, such as a paper plate, to serve as a secondary anchor. These photographs will be digitized for computer display using the same screen/frame size. Using the first photograph (Pyramid serving) the technical feasibility of resizing of the food object on a static background with concurrent recalculation of the serving size will be tested. Photographs 2 and 3 will be used to verify the resized display and calculation algorithms. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Dietitians and other health professionals in the practice of nutrition counseling for therapy, health promotion, or disease prevention, as well as researchers engaged in nutritional studies and clinical trials in obesity prevention need reference tools that will improve estimation and reporting of amounts of food consumed. Schools training dietitians and food service technicians also need an effective and readily accessible reference for teaching portion recognition, estimation and control.