Harnessing New Computing Technologies for Detailed Assessment of Child Diet in Rural Zambia

Abstract

Objectives: To integrate tablet-based data collection tools with dietary data processing software for assessment of dietary intakes among children in rural Zambia. Methods: Dietary intakes of 4- to 8-year-old children in rural Zambia (n=1226) were collected by 24 hour recall interview using a customized survey tool on Android tablets. The 24 hour recall tool was pre-programmed with interviewer prompts, contained 1205 locally consumed foods, and collected detailed food descriptions including portion size, cooking method, added ingredients and source. Interview data were uploaded from the tablets to secure servers daily.  Compiled data will be formatted for import into CS Dietary software, a program developed by Harvest Plus for entry and analysis of 24 hour recall data. CS Dietary analyzes foods and nutrients based on food composition, recipe, measurement conversion and food group tables which are selected by the researcher to match the research context. Tables corresponding to the food list used in the tablet-based recall tool will be imported into CS Dietary to create reports on diets of the children surveyed. Results: The total number of foods recorded was 8418. Of these, 31% (n=2620) were stiff, white maize porridge, 21% (n=1739) were leafy vegetable dishes and 11% (n=939) were small, whole fish dishes. Other foods consumed included large fish, eggs, beans, fritters, rice, and other maize preparations. Conclusions: This use of a tablet-based survey tool and CS Dietary software enabled paperless data collection and analysis based on context-specific food and recipe tables and shows the way forward for the deployment of customizable, interview-to-intakes tools for dietary assessment.