The estimation of food portion sizes: a comparison between using descriptions of portion sizes and a photographic food atlas by children and adults

Objective: To assess the errors between estimates of amounts based on photographs and actual quantities of food presented to adults or eaten on the previous day. Design: A photographic atlas was constructed by taking digital photographs of three pre-weighed portion sizes of 212 traditional Lebanese dishes. In a first approach, ten portions of real pre-weighed foods were assessed using the photographic atlas. In a second approach, the participants weighed all foods consumed at one meal and recalled the amount of food that was eaten the previous day using the photographic atlas. Differences between actual quantities and estimation were assessed using a signed rank test (P , 0?05). Spearman's correlation coefficients and bias (Bland-Altman plot) between the methods were calculated. Setting: Lebanese university canteen and Lebanese homes. Subjects: Forty adults (twenty males, twenty females) completed the first protocol and fifty adults (twenty-five males, twenty-five females) completed the second protocol; all were volunteers aged 21 to 62 years. Results: Mean differences between actual and estimated portion sizes by photographs were between 213?1 % and 124?5 % when pre-weighed foods were presented, and between 210?4 % and 13?8 % when foods were consumed the day before. No significant differences were found between actual and estimated portion sizes except for three dishes (loubieh bil zeit, tabbouleh and yachnet bazella). Bland-Altman plots showed good agreement for all dishes with a negligible bias of 20?2 g between estimated and presented portions, and 26?3 g between estimated and eaten portions. Conclusions: In the Lebanese diet, food photographs seem a reliable tool for quantification of food portion sizes.

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confidence: 99%

Development and evaluation of a photographic atlas as a tool for dietary assessment studies in Middle East cultures

Tueni

Mounayar

Birlouez‐Aragon³

2012

“…Lillegaard et al (9) and Frobisher and Maxwell (11) also found that there were no statistically significant differences in the identification of portion size in food photographs according to age. In the present study, the adolescents' ability to identify food portion size in the photographs was independent of food characteristics, as the identification of food portions in the photographs was similar for foods with natural portions and for amorphous foods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The validity of photographs used in food intake assessment has been assessed among adolescents with acceptable results (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) .…”

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confidence: 99%

Evaluation of photographs supporting an FFQ developed for adolescents

Brito

Guimarães

Pereira

2012

Objective: To evaluate the validity of food photographs used to support the reporting of food intake with an FFQ designed for adolescents from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Design: A set of ninety-five food photographs was elaborated. The photographs' evaluation process included the acknowledgement of foods and portions in the pictures. In the identification of foods (ninety-five photographs) and typical portions (twelve photographs), the adolescents were requested to answer a structured questionnaire related to the food photographs. The identification of the portion size of amorphous foods (forty-three photographs) was performed using three different portion sizes of actual preparations. The proportions (and 95 % confidence intervals) of adolescents who correctly identified foods and portion size in each photograph were estimated. Setting: A public school in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Subjects: Sixty-two adolescents between 11?0 and 18?9 years old, randomly selected. Results: At least 90 % of adolescents correctly identified the food in ninety-two photographs and the food in the three remaining photographs was recognized by 80-89 % of the adolescents. At least 98 % of the adolescents correctly identified eleven typical or natural portions in the food photographs. For amorphous foods, at least 70 % of teenagers correctly identified the portion size in the photograph of thirty-one foods; for the other photographs, the portion size was correctly recognized by 50-69 % of the adolescents for eight foods and by less than 50 % of adolescents for four foods. Conclusions: The analysed photographs are appropriate visual aids to the reporting of food consumption by adolescents.

“…A photographic booklet is convenient compared with three-dimensional models for example, since it is easy for the interviewer to carry and can include a wide range of different types of foods. In high-income countries, the validity of using food photographs in portion size estimation has been studied in different age groups, including adults (5)(6)(7)(8)(9) , adults and elderly persons (10) and children and adolescents (7,11,12) . The study designs have varied from studies in which the subjects serve themselves a variety of foods in portions of their choice and the next day they are asked to recall the food items and estimate their amounts (5) to studies in which the food is not eaten but shown to the subject and the assessment of portion size is done simultaneously (9) .…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The study designs have varied from studies in which the subjects serve themselves a variety of foods in portions of their choice and the next day they are asked to recall the food items and estimate their amounts (5) to studies in which the food is not eaten but shown to the subject and the assessment of portion size is done simultaneously (9) . In general, despite the fact that there is large variation in individuals' ability to estimate portion sizes (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) , many studies have shown acceptable results on the group level (6,(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and the use of food photographs has become an established practice in dietary studies. More recently, portion size photographs have also been developed to be used on computer screen (12)(13)(14) .…”

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confidence: 99%

Food photographs in portion size estimation among adolescent Mozambican girls

Korkalo

Erkkola

Fidalgo³

et al. 2012

Objective: To assess the validity of food photographs in portion size estimation among adolescent girls in Mozambique. The study was carried out in preparation for the larger ZANE study, which used the 24 h dietary recall method. Design: Life-sized photographs of three portion sizes of two staple foods and three sauces were produced. Participants ate weighed portions of one staple food and one sauce. After the meal, they were asked to estimate the amount of food with the aid of the food photographs. Setting: Zambezia Province, Mozambique. Subjects: Ninety-nine girls aged 13-18 years. Results: The mean differences between estimated and actual portion sizes relative to the actual portion size ranged from 219 % to 8 % for different foods. The respective mean difference for all foods combined was 25 % (95 % CI 212, 2 %). Especially larger portions of the staple foods were often underestimated. For the staple foods, between 62 % and 64 % of the participants were classified into the same thirds of the distribution of estimated and actual food consumption and for sauces, the percentages ranged from 38 % to 63 %. Bland-Altman plots showed wide limits of agreement. Conclusions: Using life-sized food photographs among adolescent Mozambican girls resulted in a rather large variation in the accuracy of individuals' estimates. The ability to rank individuals according to their consumption was, however, satisfactory for most foods. There seems to be a need to further develop and test food photographs used in different populations in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the accuracy of portion size estimates.