MyNutritionPlanner: Development and Evaluation of an Innovative Software Approach

描述(由申请者提供)：对于大多数美国人来说，理解和规划一个健康的日常菜单可能是一个令人困惑和多方面的过程。智障人士(ID)面临的认知挑战在理解复杂的营养概念方面造成了更大的障碍，如食物类别、卡路里价值、饱和脂肪、胆固醇、每日建议摄入量、特殊饮食等。尽管存在这些障碍，各种州和联邦法规要求机构提供客户参与菜单规划和其他营养过程的证据。这导致了对营养规划工作人员的高度依赖，并最终导致与患有智障的学生和成年人--特别是唐氏综合症患者--的超重问题有关的显著健康差距。这项拟议的研究将评估智能系统多媒体软件方法在支持自主菜单规划、食品杂货单开发、营养教育和餐饮准备方面的效用。该项目的长期目标是使用实时音频、视频、数字图像、动画图形和基于营养的算法：1)引导ID用户完成独立规划和准备营养健康菜单的过程；2)基于这些菜单生成更独立可用的多媒体购物清单；以及3)提供互动的、类似游戏的形式进行营养教育。第一阶段的具体目标包括开发和评估原型菜单规划模块。原型系统将与以易用著称的高评级主流菜单规划软件系统进行可用性和有效性测试。第一阶段的假设是，原型系统将允许唐氏综合症患者在比使用主流系统时更少的帮助下完成菜单规划任务，并将产生至少与使用主流系统时生成的菜单一样有营养的菜单。Ablelink技术公司将建立在之前进行的几个研究项目的基础上，以指导原型开发。有三个主要项目任务：1)开发和记录系统需求；2)进行第一阶段系统原型的软件开发；3)在可用性研究中使用该原型，以确定该方法在菜单规划过程中提高独立性和参与度的有效性。第二阶段计划包括最终确定和实施一套全面的菜单规划选项和功能，以支持不同的饮食需求；开发系统的营养算法，以跟踪菜单规划期间的营养价值并将其与个人营养目标进行比较，从而为推广更健康的菜单提供一种智能的系统方法；设计和开发营养教育模块；完成用户登录和数据跟踪/报告/定制功能；以及进行实际现场评估，以确定该系统随着时间的推移在减肥/增重和其他与健康相关的结果指标方面的效果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): For most Americans, understanding and planning a healthy daily menu can be a confusing and multi- faceted process. The cognitive challenges faced by people with intellectual disabilities (ID) create even greater barriers in understanding the complexity of nutritional concepts such as the food groups, caloric values, saturated fats, cholesterol, daily recommended allowances, special diets, etc. Despite these barriers, various state and federal regulations require agencies to provide evidence of client participation in menu planning and other nutritional processes. This has resulted in a high level of dependency on staff for nutrition planning, and ultimately results in significant health disparities related to excess weight issues in students and adults with ID-and particularly those with Down syndrome. The proposed research will evaluate the utility of an intelligent system multimedia software approach for supporting self-directed menu planning, grocery list development, nutritional education, and meal preparation. The long term goals of the project are to use live audio, video, digital images, animated graphics, and nutrition-based algorithms to: 1) guide users with ID through the process of independently planning and preparing nutritionally healthy menus; 2) generate a more independently usable multimedia shopping list based upon those menus, and; 3) provide an interactive, game-like format for engaging in nutritional education. Specific objectives for Phase I include development and evaluation of a prototype Menu Planning Module. The prototype system will be tested for usability and efficacy in comparison to a highly rated mainstream menu planning software system that is noted for its ease of use. The Phase I hypothesis is that the prototype system will allow individuals with Down syndrome to complete menu planning tasks with significantly less assistance than when using the mainstream system, and will result in menus that are at least as nutritious as those generated when using the mainstream system. AbleLink Technologies will build upon several previously conducted research projects to guide prototype development. There are three primary project tasks: 1) development and documentation of system requirements; 2) to conduct software development of the Phase I system prototype, and; 3) to use that prototype in a usability study to determine the efficacy of the approach to improve independence and engagement in the menu planning process. Phase II plans include finalizing and implementing a comprehensive set of menu planning options and features to support different dietary needs; development of the system's nutritional algorithms that will track and compare nutritional values during menu planning to individual nutritional goals to provide an intelligent system approach toward promoting healthier menus; to design and develop the nutrition education module; to complete user login and data tracking/reporting/customization features; and to conduct a real-world field evaluation to determine the efficacy of the system over time in terms of weight loss/gain and other health related outcome measures.