ARS | Publication request: Validation of the use of digital photography for estimating portion sizes

Submitted to: Journal of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 1, 2008
Publication Date: April 9, 2008
Citation: Goodell, L.S., Tsuei, E., Hughes, S.O., Nicklas, T.A. 2008. Validation of the use of digital photography for estimating portion sizes [abstract]. Journal of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 22:452.1.

Technical Abstract: There is no consensus and the data are scarce on the best method for assessing diets of young children. The purpose of this study was to validate the use of digital photography as a dietary assessment method for use with preschool children. Researchers prepared and photographed 23 foods presented as ten versions of six meals. Investigators selected foods used in the estimations from a Head Start preschool lunch menu. As researchers added individual foods to a plate, they weighed each food portion to determine actual weight. From photographs on the computer, five raters estimated portion sizes for the servings of food, using a library of reference photos representing each food in 10-gram increments. Raters viewed the meal photos and selected what they believed to be the corresponding portion size reference photo for each food on the plate. The average correlation between estimated weights across raters was 0.65. The mean difference in actual versus estimated weight of food was 1.92 grams across raters. This small mean gram difference suggests that the difference between actual and estimated nutrient analysis of foods would be very small. Thus, this method is a valid approach to collecting nutrient intake data. In the future, researchers will validate the use of this method for application in community settings including Head Start classrooms and participants' homes.