Assessment of the Accuracy of Portion Size Reports Using Computer-Based Food Photographs Aids in the Development of an Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Recall
Open accessAbstract
Objective To assess the accuracy of portion-size estimates and participant preferences using various presentations of digital images.Design Two observational feeding studies were conducted. In both, each participant selected and consumed foods for breakfast and lunch, buffet style, serving themselves portions of nine foods representing five forms (eg, amorphous, pieces). Serving containers were weighed unobtrusively before and after selection as was plate waste. The next day, participants used a computer software program to select photographs representing portion sizes of foods consumed the previous day. Preference information was also collected. In Study 1 (n=29), participants were presented with four different types of images (aerial photographs, angled photographs, images of mounds, and household measures) and two types of screen presentations (simultaneous images vs an empty plate that filled with images of food portions when clicked). In Study 2 (n=20), images were presented in two ways that varied by size (large vs small) and number (4 vs 8).Subjects/setting Convenience sample of volunteers of varying background in an office setting.Statistical analyses performed Repeated-measures analysis of variance of absolute differences between actual and reported portions sizes by presentation methods.Results Accuracy results were largely not statistically significant, indicating that no one image type was most accurate. Accuracy results indicated the use of eight vs four images was more accurate. Strong participant preferences supported presenting simultaneous vs sequential images.Conclusions These findings support the use of aerial photographs in the automated self-administered 24-hour recall. For some food forms, images of mounds or household measures are as accurate as images of food and, therefore, are a cost-effective alternative to photographs of foods.
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Traditional dietary self-monitoring methods suffer from underreporting and recall issues.
“These methods can be burdensome to people [6,7,15-17] and suffer from underreporting and recall issues [15-19].”
From Factors related to sustained use of a free mobile app for dietary self-monitoring with photography and peer feedback: retrospective cohort study (2014) · cites this paper as [16]
Although it is still difficult to estimate food ingredients and portion sizes from a photograph, efforts to develop estimation algorithms based on image processing or crowdsourcing are underway.
“Although it is still difficult to estimate food ingredients and portion sizes from a photograph, efforts to develop estimation algorithms based on image processing or crowdsourcing are underway [6,16].”
From Factors related to sustained use of a free mobile app for dietary self-monitoring with photography and peer feedback: retrospective cohort study (2014) · cites this paper as [16]
Traditional dietary self-monitoring methods can be burdensome to people.
“These methods can be burdensome to people [6,7,15-17] and suffer from underreporting and recall issues [15-19].”
From Factors related to sustained use of a free mobile app for dietary self-monitoring with photography and peer feedback: retrospective cohort study (2014) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Subar, A. F., Crafts, J., Zimmerman, T. P., Wilson, M., Mittl, B., Islam, N. G., McNutt, S., Potischman, N., Buday, R., Hull, S. G., Baranowski, T., Guenther, P. M., Willis, G., Tapia, R., & Thompson, F. E.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- National Cancer Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Subar, Amy F.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-01
- Volume
- 110
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 55-64
- ISSN
- 0002-8223 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3773715
- OpenAlex
- W2064027882
- Cited by
- 224
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 11.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Keywords
- portion size estimation, dietary assessment accuracy, aerial photographs, plate waste, participant preferences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Energy Intake, Diet Surveys, Educational Status, Female, Food, Food Preferences, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Male, Middle Aged, Photography, Mental Recall, Sensitivity and Specificity, Size Perception, Reproducibility of Results, Nutrition Assessment, Young Adult
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