Newcastle University

Professor Ashley Adamson and Emma Foster will be giving a presentation on SCRAN24.  The project was  funded by Food Standards Agency and work has recently been presented at the Department of Health in London.

Novel methods of assessing dietary intake are required to reduce the burden of participating in dietary surveys, to improve participation rates and therefore improve the representativeness of the sample. Such methods could also minimise the impact of measuring dietary intake on subject’s food intake during the recording period.

The use of a computerised 24hr recall has the potential not only to engage the user and make the task less onerous but also to reduce the amount of researcher time required, improve the consistency of coding and reduce the potential for data entry errors.

IPSAS (Interactive Portion Size Assessment Software) is an interviewer led computer based tool developed for use in assessing portion size of foods consumed by children.  Using IPSAS children of 11 years and over were found to be as accurate and precise as their parents in estimating portion size.

IPSAS was further developed into a self completed computerised 24hr recall, modelled on the multiple pass method, for use with children aged 11-16 years (SCRAN24).

The development of SCRAN24 was informed by an extensive literature review, a series of focus groups and usability testing. Initial focus groups used paper-based activities to simulate a range of tasks. Software development focus groups examined the usability and performance of prototypes of the system, assessed comprehension of tasks required and identified further development requirements. Final testing assessed the usability of the system and measured success rates of finding foods and time taken to complete the recall.

Small scale validation was conducted with 39 children and parents. Parents kept a 24 hr weighed food diary for their child. The child completed a 24 hr recall using SCRAN24 the following day. Food and drink items reported using SCRAN24 were classified as an exact match, an approximate match, an omission or an intrusion. Accuracy and precision of estimates of energy and nutrient intake using SCRAN24 were assessed.

SCRAN24 was very well received by the young people taking part in the study, it was relatively quick to complete and worked well in both the home and the school environment. The level of matches, omissions and intrusions were similar to those reported during a dietitian administered 24hr recall but energy intakes reported using SCRAN24 were low compared with the weighed food diary.

With further development to improve both the usability and accuracy of the system the tool could facilitate the rapid collection of dietary data from large numbers of pupils in a secondary school setting.