Relative Validity of the Eat and Track (EaT) Smartphone App for Collection of Dietary Intake Data in 18-to-30-Year Olds

Abstract

(1) Background: Smartphone dietary assessment apps can be acceptable and valid data collection methods but have predominantly been validated in highly educated women, and none specifically measured eating-out habits in young adults. (2) Methods: Participants recorded their food and beverage consumption for three days using the Eat and Track (EaT) app, and intakes were compared with three dietitian-administered 24-h recall interviews matched to the same days as the reference method. Wilcoxon signed-rank or t-tests, correlation coefficients and Bland–Altman plots assessed agreement between the two methods for energy and percentage energy from nutrients (%E). (3) Results: One hundred and eighty nine of 216 participants (54% females, 60% resided in higher socioeconomic areas, 49% university-educated) completed the study. There were significant differences in median energy intake between methods (p < 0.001), but the EaT app had acceptable agreement for most nutrient densities at the group level. Correlation coefficients ranged from r = 0.56 (%E fat) to 0.82 (%E sugars), and between 85% and 94% of participants were cross-classified into the same or adjacent quartiles. Bland–Altman plots showed wide limits of agreement but no obvious biases for nutrient densities except carbohydrate in males. (4) Conclusions: The EaT app can be used to assess group nutrient densities in a general population of 18-to-30-year olds.

Keywords

• diet assessment
• relative validity
• smartphone
• young adults
• apps