Towards nutrition education for adults: a systematic approach to the interface design of an online dietary assessment tool

Abstract

To support nutrition-related behavioural change, a dietitian can offer tailored educational programmes based on patients' specific dietary behaviours. A model has been developed to integrate learning technologies into this process. This tool allows patients to self-report their dietary intake, creating awareness, and to receive individually tailored dietary advice from their General Practitioner (GP) via a dietitian, to assist with change. This article examines how a step-wise approach to the interface design has allowed a multidisciplinary approach to automated dietary assessment to be undertaken. Concentrating on the identification of core foods and on the questionnaire format using an outline of the diet history interview, the design features of the programme used focus groups with end users and in-depth discussion between the multidisciplinary team. The development of an online self-administered dietary assessment programme must ensure outcome goals are met whilst upholding the simplicity of the interface design to allow a larger number of patients access to the programme.

Computerized dietary assessments compare well with interviewer administered diet histories for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the primary healthcare setting

“…Utilizing design concepts from the diet history interview and food frequency questionnaire methodologies, the website was developed based on an analysis of food intake data from the last Australian National Nutrition Survey (12). Usability testing of the website during its development revealed it to be user friendly and comparable in length to a diet history interview with a dietitian and analysis of the food data post interview (13). The website was developed using a multiple-pass approach in which the user first answers demographic questions, followed by those on meal consumption, broad food group consumption within meals, specific food consumption within groups, food portion size and frequency of consumption (13).…”

“…Usability testing of the website during its development revealed it to be user friendly and comparable in length to a diet history interview with a dietitian and analysis of the food data post interview (13). The website was developed using a multiple-pass approach in which the user first answers demographic questions, followed by those on meal consumption, broad food group consumption within meals, specific food consumption within groups, food portion size and frequency of consumption (13). After the user has finished using the website, data is electronically passed to a dietician to develop an individualized dietary prescription using the 'dieticians interface' of the website.…”

Video‐recorded participant behaviours: the association between food choices and observed behaviours from a web‐based diet history interview

“…All participants provided their informed consent prior to participation in the study and ethics approval was provided by the University of Wollongong Human Research Ethics Committee. This study uses data from 11 participants of phase one of the usability testing of the website for which video data were available (Probst et al. , 2007).…”

Relationships between patient age and BMI and use of a self-administered computerised dietary assessment in a primary healthcare setting

“…These were then further refined in pass 2 in which more detail was obtained about the specific foods in each meal. The final pass asked about the portion size and frequency of consumption of each of the food items (Probst et al, 2007). No incentives were provided for the patients.…”