Bruyère Research Institute, 43 Bruyère St, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5C8, Canada.
J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012 Oct;112(10):1636-41. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2012.06.367.
A variety of methods are available for assessing diet; however, many are impractical for large research studies in an institutional environment. Technology, specifically digital imaging, can make diet estimations more feasible for research. Our goal was to compare a digital imaging method of estimating regular and modified-texture main plate food waste with traditional on-site visual estimations, in a continuing and long-term care setting using a meal-tray delivery service. Food waste was estimated for participants on regular (n=36) and modified-texture (n=42) diets. A tracking system to ensure collection and digital imaging of all main meal plates was developed. Four observers used a modified Comstock method to assess food waste for vegetables, starches, and main courses on 551 main meal plates. Intermodal, inter-rater, and intra-rater reliability were calculated using intraclass correlation for absolute agreement. Intermodal reliability was based on one rater's assessments. The digital imaging method results were in high agreement with the real-time visual method for both regular and modified-texture food (intraclass correlation=0.90 and 0.88, respectively). Agreements between observers for regular diets were higher than those for modified-texture food (range=0.91 to 0.94; 0.82 to 0.91, respectively). Intra-rater agreements were very high for both regular and modified-texture food (range=0.93 to 0.99; 0.91 to 0.98). The digital imaging method is a reliable alternative to estimating regular and modified-texture food waste for main meal plates when compared with real-time visual estimation. Color, shape, reheating, mixing, and use of sauces made modified-texture food waste slightly more difficult to estimate, regardless of estimation method.
有多种方法可用于评估饮食；然而，在机构环境中进行大型研究时，许多方法都不切实际。技术，特别是数字成像，可以使研究更可行地进行饮食估计。我们的目标是在使用餐盘配送服务的持续和长期护理环境中，将一种用于估计常规和改良质地主菜食物浪费的数字成像方法与传统的现场视觉估计进行比较。对于常规（n=36）和改良质地（n=42）饮食的参与者，估计了食物浪费量。开发了一种跟踪系统，以确保收集和数字化所有主餐盘。四名观察者使用改良的 Comstock 方法评估了 551 个主餐盘中蔬菜、淀粉和主菜的食物浪费量。使用绝对一致性的组内相关系数计算了模态间、评价者间和评价者内的可靠性。模态间可靠性基于一名评价者的评估。数字成像方法的结果与实时视觉方法在常规和改良质地食物方面高度一致（组内相关系数分别为 0.90 和 0.88）。对于常规饮食，观察者之间的一致性高于改良质地食物（范围分别为 0.91 至 0.94；0.82 至 0.91）。对于常规和改良质地的食物，评价者内的一致性非常高（范围分别为 0.93 至 0.99；0.91 至 0.98）。与实时视觉估计相比，数字成像方法是一种可靠的替代方法，可用于估计主餐盘的常规和改良质地食物废物。无论采用哪种估计方法，颜色、形状、再加热、混合和使用酱汁都会使改良质地的食物废物更难以估计。
