Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #250707
Title: Commentary: Need for Technological Innovation in Dietary Assessment

Author
item THOMPSON, FRANCES - National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH)
item SUBAR, AMY - National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH)
item LORIA, CATHERINE - National Heart, Lung And Blood Institute(NHLBI, NIH)
item REEDY, JILL - National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH)
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Journal Of The American Dietetic Association
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/17/2009
Publication Date: 1/1/2010
Citation: Thompson, F.E., Subar, A.F., Loria, C.M., Reedy, J.L., Baranowski, T. 2010. Commentary: Need for Technological Innovation in Dietary Assessment. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 110(1):48-51.

Interpretive Summary: The major limitations of the dominant methods of dietary assessment were identified: food frequency questionnaire, food record, 24 hour dietary recall and nutritional biomarkers. Next, the most prominent technological innovations, mostly to reduce costs of each of these methods were identified. The presentation of the history of these technological innovations presented the background for the technologically innovative methods presented in separate articles in this edition of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Technical Abstract: In 2007, the National Institutes of Health developed the Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI)(www.gei.nih.gov) to promote research to better understand the genetic and environmental contributions to health and disease. GEI funded technology-driven methodology to improve measures of diet, physical activity, chemical exposures, psychosocial measures, and biological response indicators for use in future large-scale population studies. Similarly, since 2004, the National Cancer Institute has internally funded the development of another technology advance in dietary assessment: an automated, self-administered 24-hour dietary recall (ASA). The purpose of this commentary is to briefly review issues related to the uses of technology in dietary assessment as a backdrop for advances in the field.