DIET RECORDS: ARE PICTURES REALLY WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS?

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Food intake and the over- or under-supply of specific nutrients have been linked to various diseases such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Celiac Disease, and failure to thrive. In both clinical and research settings, it is common to use self-reported food records as a means to collect dietary data on both habitual intake and the effect of a dietary intervention on intake. However, this is a time-consuming method for the participant and is susceptible to serious inaccuracies due to the nature of self-reporting. It is crucial that diet data be accurate in order to glean information regarding nutrition, disease and health. There are currently seven Pediatric GCRC protocols which use a 3 day diet diary to assess dietary intake. In some studies, particularly those which involve patients with severe disease such as autism or a brain tumor, remembering to complete an entry every time any food or beverage is consumed, keeping food labels, and carrying diet log books at all times can be burdensome and frustrating. There are preliminary reports which describe the use of photographic records for the estimation of dietary intake in adults (1, 2). We propose that supplying pediatric study participants with a disposable camera to visually record dietary intake will increase the accuracy of the food record and decrease patient burden. If this proves to be the case, this method of estimating dietary intake can be offered as a future service to investigators by the Bionutrition Core of the Pediatric GCRC.