Dietary self-monitoring is considered the core of behavioral weight control programs. As software for personal digital assistants (PDA) has become more available, this study investigated whether the use of a PDA would improve dietary self-monitoring frequency and subsequent weight loss over the use of traditional paper diaries. One-hundred-seventy-six adults (BMI 25-39.9) participated in a 6-month behavioral weight control program. Treatment subjects (n = 61) were provided with a PalmZire 21 with Calorie King's Diet Diary software installed. Their self-monitoring habits and weight loss were compared with the results from a previous program (n = 115) which followed the same protocol using paper diaries for self-monitoring. No significant differences in weight loss or dietary self-monitoring were found. More frequent self-monitoring correlated with weight loss in both groups (p<.001). People seeking to lose weight should be encouraged to self-monitor and be matched with a mode of self-monitoring that is fitting to their lifestyle and skills.

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Increasing children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is an important goal of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National School Lunch Program. Since 2012, the USDA's requirement that children select FVs at lunch as part of the reimbursable school meal has been met with concern and evidence of food waste. We compared elementary schoolchildren's FV selection, consumption, and waste before (10 school visits, 498 tray observations) and after (11 school visits, 944 tray observations) implementation of this requirement using validated dietary assessment measures. More children selected FVs in higher amounts when FVs were required compared with when they were optional (0.69 cups vs. 0.89 cups, p<0.001); however, consumption decreased slightly (0.51 cups vs. 0.45 cups, p=0.01) and waste increased (0.25 cups vs. 0.39 cups, p<0.001) when FVs were required compared with when they were optional. More exposure to FVs in schools through programmatic efforts and in the home environment may help familiarize children with FV offerings and encourage consumption.

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