Evaluating the Reliability of Assessing Home-Packed Food Items Using Digital Photographs and Dietary Log Sheets

Abstract

Objective: To assess the reliability of manual data entry for home-packed food items by using digital photographs and dietary log sheets. Methods: Data from 60 lunches were entered by researcher A and B independently. Researcher B re-entered researcher A’s items within 1 week. Researcher B then re-entered her items 4 weeks from the initial entry point. Results: The inter-rater reliability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.83 for total kilocalories and ranged from 0.75–0.87 for macronutrients. The intra-rater reliability ICC was 0.92 for total kcal and ranged from 0.90–0.92 for macronutrients. The inter-rater ICCs for the 5 selected micronutrients ranged from 0.33–0.83, whereas the intra-rater ICCs for these micronutrients ranged from 0.65–0.98. Conclusions and Implications: This method of data entry is feasible and its reliability is promising for macronutrient investigations. Continued assessment of this method for investigations related to micronutrient content is recommended.