Nutrition Evaluation Scale System reduces time and labor in recording quantitative dietary intake

A time and labor cost study was conducted to evaluate two quantitative techniques for recording dietary intake of individuals: the Nutrition Evaluation Scale System (NESSy) and the weighed food record. NESSy, a new computerized method, uses interactive software to prompt and guide participants through the recording of food weights and descriptions. Twelve men and nine women (aged 23 to 36 years, with 11 to 16 years of education) utilized NESSy for 16 consecutive days while residing in a metabolic research unit. Concurrently, food intake was weighed and manually recorded by trained dietary staff. Analysis of variance on data gathered from NESSy showed no statistically significant differences among sex, age, and educational groupings in the time spent using NESSy. NESSy required 1.73 +/- 0.3 minutes (mean +/- SD) to weigh in, weigh out, and record each food item consumed, whereas the manual technique required 8.4 minutes. The reason for the magnitude of time difference between the two methods is that NESSy provides the flexibility of weighing and recording only foods eaten whereas the manual method requires complete entry of all foods served whether eaten or not. Using the Nutrition Evaluation Scale System to record food intake provides savings in time and labor of about 80%.