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Effective nutrition policies require timely, accurate individual dietary consumption data; collection of such information has been hampered by cost and complexity of dietary surveys and lag in producing results. The objective of this work was to assess accuracy and cost-effectiveness of a streamlined, tablet-based dietary data collection platform for 24-hour individual dietary recalls (24HR) administered using INDDEX24 platform v. a pen-and-paper interview(PAPI) questionnaire, with weighed food record (WFR) as a benchmark. This cross-sectional comparative study included women 18–49 years old from rural Burkina Faso (n 116 INDDEX24; n 115 PAPI). A WFR was conducted; the following day, a 24HR was administered by different interviewers. Food consumption data were converted into nutrient intakes. Validity of 24HR estimates of nutrient and food group consumption was based on comparison with WFR using equivalence tests (group level) and percentages of participants within ranges of percentage error (individual level). Both modalities performed comparably estimating consumption of macro- and micronutrients, food groups and quantities (modalities’ divergence from WFR not significantly different). Accuracy of both modalities was acceptable (equivalence to WFR significant at P < 0·05) at group level for macronutrients, less so for micronutrients and individual-level consumption (percentage within ±20 % for WFR, 17–45 % for macronutrients, 5–17 % for micronutrients). INDDEX24 was more cost-effective than PAPI based on superior accuracy of a composite nutrient intake measure (but not gram amount or item count) due to lower time and personnel costs. INDDEX24 for 24HR dietary surveys linked to dietary reference data shows comparable accuracy to PAPI at lower cost.

Objective:Restaurants may be important settings for interventions to reduce children’s energy intake. The objective of this study was to test the impact of a parent-focused social marketing campaign to promote healthy children’s meals on calories ordered and consumed by children at quick-service restaurants (QSR).Design:Using a repeated cross-sectional study design, two urban communities were randomised to intervention (IN)v. control (C) condition. A community-wide social marketing campaign was implemented in the IN community to empower Black and Latinx mothers who frequent QSR (priority population) to select healthier options for their child.Setting:Data were collected in 2016 at QSR located within the communities pre- and post-IN and analysed in 2017.Participants:Parents (n1686;n819 andn867 for I and C conditions, respectively) were recruited after placing their QSR order; a survey, receipt and their child’s leftovers were collected.Results:Calories ordered did not differ significantly between the IN and C conditions (changeadj= –146·4 kJ (–35·0 kcal); 95 % CI –428·0 kJ (–102·3 kcal), 134·6 kJ (32·2 kcal)). In a sub-analysis of only the priority audience, children in the IN community ordered significantly fewer calories compared to C children in unadjusted models (changeunadj= –510·4 kJ (–122·0 kcal); 95 % CI –1013·4 kJ (–242·2 kcal), –7·5 kJ (–1·8 kcal)), but the trend did not persist after adjusting for covariates (changeadj= –437·2 kJ (–104·5 kcal); 95 % CI –925·5 kJ (–221·2 kcal), 50·6 kJ (12·1 kcal)). Calories consumed followed similar trends.Conclusion:The campaign did not significantly reduce children’s QSR calories ordered or consumed. However, a quantitatively important mean reduction in calories was suggested among the priority audience, indicating potential for community-wide promotion of healthful children’s meals.

Development of methods to accurately measure dietary intake in free-living situations-restaurants or otherwise-is critically needed to understand overall dietary patterns.This study aimed to develop and test reliability and validity of digital images (DI) for measuring children's dietary intake in quick-service restaurants (QSRs), validating against weighed plate waste (PW) and bomb calorimetry (BC).In 2016, cross-sectional data were collected at two time points within a randomized controlled trial assessing children's leftovers in QSRs from parents of 4- to 12-year-old children.Parents (n = 640; mean age = 35.9 y; 70.8% female) consented and agreed to provide their child's PW for digital imaging, across 11 QSRs in Massachusetts in areas with low socioeconomic status and ethnically diverse populations.Outcome measures were interrater reliability for DIs, correspondence between methods for energy consumed and left over, and correspondence between methods across varying quantities of PW.Intraclass correlations, percent agreement, Spearman correlations, Wilcoxon signed rank tests, and Bland-Altman plots were used.Interrater reliability ratings for DIs had substantial intraclass correlations (ICC = 0.94) but not acceptable exact percent agreement (80.2%); DI and PW energy consumed were significantly correlated (r = 0.96, P0.001); DI slightly underestimated energy consumed compared with PW (Mdiff = -1.61 kcals, P0.001). Bland-Altman plots showed high DI-PW correspondence across various energy amounts and revealed few outliers. Energy left over by BC was highly correlated with DI (r = 0.87, P0.001) and PW (r = 0.90, P0.001); and mean differences were not significantly different from DI (Mdiff = 9.77 kcal, P = 0.06) or PW (Mdiff = -2.84 kcal, P = 0.20).Correspondence was high between PW and DI assessments of energy consumed, and high with BC energy left over. Results demonstrate reliability and practical validity of digital images for assessing child meal consumption in QSR settings.