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Evaluating the Validity of the PortionSize Smartphone Application for Estimating Dietary Intake in Free-Living
Hanim E Diktas1, Chloe P Lozano2, Sanjoy Saha3
1Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana University System, Baton Rouge, LA.
Objective:
Evaluate the validity of the PortionSize application.
Methods:
In this pilot study, 14 adults used PortionSize to record their free-living food intake over 3 consecutive days. Digital photography was the criterion measure, and the main outcomes were estimated intake of food (grams), energy (kilocalories), and food groups. Equivalence tests with ±25% equivalence bounds and Bland-Altman analysis were performed.
Results:
Estimated gram intake from PortionSize was equivalent (P < 0.001) to digital photography estimates. PortionSize and digital photography estimated energy intake, however, were not equivalent (P = 0.08), with larger estimates from PortionSize. In addition, PortionSize and digital photography were equivalent for vegetable intake (P = 0.01), but PortionSize had larger estimates of fruits, grains, dairy, and protein intake (P >0.07; error range 11% to 23%).
Conclusions And Implications:
Compared with digital photography, PortionSize accurately estimated food intake and had reasonable error rates for other nutrients; however, it overestimated energy intake, indicating further application improvements are needed for free-living conditions.
