Profesional Development Workshop

Day 1: Tuesday, 13 September

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“Alexa, I just ate a donut.” Innovations in recalls and real-time methods for measuring eating

Session convener: Laura Johnson, NatCen

Diet is a key behaviour associated with health that is embedded in our social lives. Analyses of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey have shown that when, where and who you eat with are key correlates of what and how much you eat. Understanding more about the social drivers of food intake is essential to ensure that public health and policy interventions to improve diet are a success. Dietary assessment methods that are detailed but easy to complete are required. Technology-based tools offer the potential to reduce participant and research burden, enabling measures to become embedded in daily life and offer unique insights. We’ll combine presentations and demonstrations of technology-based tools for measuring food intake to stimulate discussion. We’ll draw on our experience using 1) an online dietary recall (INTAKE24) at scale in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey; 2) food photography methods and crowdsourcing to identify foods in photos; and 3) Alexa to capture voice-based data on food intake. After sharing our experience we’ll facilitate group discussions on the broader potential to capture diet or other behaviours using technology-based tools.