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Title: Adapting the eButton to the abilities of children for diet assessment

Author
item BELTRAN, ALICIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item DADABHOY, HAFZA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item CHEN, TZU - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item LIN, CHRISTINE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item JIA, WENYAN - University Of Pittsburgh
item BARANOWSKI, JANICE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item YAN, GUIFANG - University Of Pittsburgh
item SUN, MINGUI - University Of Pittsburgh
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2016
Publication Date: 6/1/2016
Citation: Beltran, A., Dadabhoy, H., Chen, T.A., Lin, C., Jia, W., Baranowski, J., Yan, G., Sun, M., Baranowski, T. 2016. Adapting the eButton to the abilities of children for diet assessment. Proceedings of Measuring Behavior 2016 - 10th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, May 25-27, 2016, Dublin, Ireland. p. 72-81.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Dietary assessment is fraught with error among adults and especially among children. Innovative technology may provide more accurate assessments of dietary intake. One recently available innovative method is a camera worn on the chest (called an eButton) that takes images of whatever is in front of the wearer at brief intervals throughout the day. Images of foods could minimize inaccurate recall of foods. While the eButton has been tested among adults, adapting it for use by children requires understanding of its acceptance and procedural use. Two eButtons were tested with children: one light weight with an 8 hour battery life, and a heavier one with a 12-14 hour battery life. These two pilot studies investigated whether 8-13 year old children would accept using a wearable camera, provide images for one day, and follow the procedures needed for direct dietary assessment. The eButton was able to be used by these children, but some technical limitations persist in obtaining all day images. The eButton is a promising tool to minimize memory and portion size related error in child diet assessment, but poses new challenges. The eButton system for diet assessment may never be completely passive, requiring dietitian review of images and portions and child report of missing foods. Further development is needed to make the system practical and improve wearability and functionality among children.