Our aim was to develop and evaluate a German adaptation of myfood24, a fully automated, web-based 24-h dietary recall (24HDR). To complete a self-administered 24HDR with myfood24, users have to search and enter consumed foods within the underlying database by a free text search. The adaptation process thus mainly consisted of the development of an appropriate food database. myfood24-Germany was evaluated in 92 adults aged 17–78 years (study 1). Participants completed four non-consecutive 24HDRs and answered an evaluation questionnaire after the final recall. The System Usability Scale Score (SUS Score, 0–100) was calculated. Users’ search behavior was examined with screen recordings in 15 adults aged 20–60 years (study 2). Participants had to enter three sample meals presented as food packaging or pictures. The final database included 11,501 food items (7203 generic and 4298 branded items) with up to 131 nutrients. In study 1, the median completion time for a 24HDR was 15 min. The median SUS score of 78 indicated good usability. The majority of participants considered the overall user-friendliness as good (46%) or very good (21%), and 75% were willing to use myfood24-Germany regularly. Both studies showed that finding and choosing an appropriate item within the database was a major challenge. A German version of myfood24 was successfully developed. The user evaluation indicated a short completion time, good usability and acceptability of the tool, and confirmed its feasibility for repeated short-term application.

Purpose: We aimed to validate myfood24-Germany, a web-based 24-h dietary recall (24HDR), by comparing its performance with a weighed dietary record (WDR) and biomarkers. Methods: 97 adults (77% female) completed a 3-day WDR with a 24-h urine collection on day 3, followed by at least one 24HDR with myfood24-Germany (corresponding to day 3 of the WDR). Intake of energy and 32 nutrients assessed by myfood24-Germany and the WDR for the same day were compared (method comparison). Intakes of protein and potassium assessed by myfood24-Germany/WDR were compared with intake estimated from urinary biomarkers for protein and potassium (biomarker comparison). Results: In the method comparison, significant correlations were found for energy and all tested nutrients (range 0.45–0.87). There was no significant difference between both methods in the assessed mean energy and macronutrient intake. However, myfood24-Germany underestimated mean intake of 15 nutrients. In the biomarker comparison, protein intake reported by myfood24-Germany/WDR was on average 10%/8% lower than estimated by biomarker. There was no significant difference in mean potassium intake assessed by myfood24-Germany/WDR and biomarker. However, a shared bias in the assessment of potassium intake was observed for both instruments. Concordance correlation coefficients (p_c) and weighted Kappa coefficients (κ) confirmed good agreement with the biomarker estimates for myfood24-Germany/WDR in case of protein (p_c = 0.58/0.66, κ = 0.51/0.53) and moderate agreement in case of potassium (p_c = 0.44/0.51; κ = 0.30/0.33). Conclusion: Our results suggest that myfood24-Germany is of comparable validity to traditional dietary assessment methods.

As consumption of commercial complementary food (CCF) during infancy and toddlerhood is common, the aim of the present study was to describe the current (2020) German market of CCF products targeted at infants and toddlers with a special focus on ingredients, macronutrients, and the practice of nutrient fortification. Information on age declarations, ingredients, energy and nutrient contents, and nutrient fortification was obtained in a market survey by contacting the producers and searching manufacturers’ websites. Each product was assigned to 1 of 13 product categories (menus, milk–cereal–meal, fruit–cereal–meal, oil, vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, cereals, snack foods, pouches, desserts, beverages). Descriptive statistics were used. We identified 1057 CF products on the German market (infants’ CCF (12 months): n = 228)). The highest protein content (% of energy content, %E) was found in meat products. In pouches, beverages, cereal fruit meals, and fruits, more than 50% of energy came from total sugar. The highest median salt content was found in toddlers’ menus and desserts. Around one-third of infants’ CCF products and one quarter of toddlers’ products were fortified with nutrients. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) was the most frequently fortified nutrient, followed by vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin D. Apple was the type of fruit listed most often in products with fruits, whereas carrot was the most frequent vegetable among CCF with vegetables. In particular, the high total sugar content of most CCFs currently available on the German market may promote unhealthy dietary habits. Parents need to be advised about the optimal selection of products.

Purpose of reviewA promising direction for improving dietary intake measurement in epidemiologic studies is the combination of short-term and long-term dietary assessment methods using statistical methods. Thereby, web-based instruments are particularly interesting as their application offers several potential advantages such as self-administration and a shorter completion time. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of new web-based short-term instruments and to describe their features.Recent findingsA number of web-based short-term dietary assessment tools for application in different countries and age-groups have been developed so far. Particular attention should be paid to the underlying database and the search function of the tool. Moreover, web-based instruments can improve the estimation of portion sizes by offering several options to the user.SummaryWeb-based dietary assessment methods are associated with lower costs and reduced burden for participants and researchers, and show a comparable validity with traditional instruments. When there is a need for a web-based tool researcher should consider the adaptation of existing tools rather than developing new instruments. The combination of short-term and long-term instruments seems more feasible with the use of new technology.

Background: Repeated applications of short-term dietary assessment instruments are recommended for estimating usual dietary intake. For this purpose, NutriDiary, a smartphone app for collecting weighed dietary records (WDRs) in the German population, was developed. Objective: We aim to describe NutriDiary and evaluate its usability and acceptability. Methods: NutriDiary was developed as a WDR, allowing users to enter food items via text search, barcode scanning, or free text entry. The sample for the evaluation study included 74 participants (n=51, 69% female, aged 18‐64 years), including 27 (37.5%) experts and 47 (63.5%) laypersons (including n=22, 30%, nutrition students). Participants completed a 1-day WDR and entered a predefined sample meal (n=17 foods) the following day by using NutriDiary. An evaluation questionnaire was answered from which the system usability scale (SUS) score (0‐100) was calculated. A backward selection procedure (PROC REG in SAS; SAS Institute) was used to identify potential predictors for the SUS score (age, sex, status [expert or laypersons], and operating system [iOS or Android]). Results: The median SUS score of 75 (IQR 63‐88) indicated good usability. Age was the only characteristic identified as a potential predictor for a lower SUS score (P<.001). The median completion time for an individual WDR was 35 (IQR 19‐52) minutes. Older participants took longer to enter the data than younger ones (18‐30 y: median 1.5, IQR 1.1‐2.0 min/item vs 45‐64 y: median 1.8, IQR 1.3‐2.3 min/item). Most participants expressed a preference for NutriDiary over the traditional paper-based method. Conclusions: Good usability and acceptability make NutriDiary promising for use in epidemiological studies.

Restrained Eating, i.e. the tendency to restrict dietary intake to control body-weight, often emerges during adolescence and may result in changes in circadian eating patterns. The objective of the present investigation was to determine the cross-sectional relevance of restrained eating for characteristics of circadian eating pattern in adolescents and whether changes in restrained eating are accompanied by concurrent changes in circadian eating pattern over the course of adolescence. Two questionnaires assessing restrained eating (Score 0–30) with parallel 3-day weighed dietary records from two different time points were available from 209 (♂:101, ♀:108) 11–18 year old adolescents of the DONALD study. Mixed linear regression models were used to analyze whether restrained eating was associated with eating occasion frequency, snack frequency and morning and evening energy intake [in % of daily energy intake, %E]. Linear regression models were used to examine whether changes in restrained eating were associated with changes in the mentioned variables. Among girls, greater restrained eating was cross-sectionally associated with higher morning energy intake (p = 0.03). Further, there was a tendency towards lower evening energy intake with higher levels of restrained eating for the whole sample (p = 0.06). No cross-sectional associations were found with eating occasion or snack frequency. Each one-point increase in restrained eating during adolescence was related to a concurrent decrease in eating occasion frequency by 0.04 (95% CI -0.08; -0.01, p = 0.02) and in evening energy intake by 0.36%E (95% CI -0.70; -0.03, p = 0.04). A tendency towards decreasing snack frequency with increasing restrained eating was observed (β = -0.03, 95% CI -0.07; 0.00, p = 0.07). No association was found between changes in restrained eating and concurrent changes in morning energy intake. We found indications for cross-sectional and prospective associations between restrained eating and chronobiological aspects of food intake in adolescents. Our results suggest that restrained eating should be considered a relevant determinant of circadian eating patterns.