Evaluation of the Ability of Diet-Tracking Mobile Applications to Estimate Energy and Nutrient Intake in Japan

Abstract

We evaluated the energy and nutrient intake estimates of popular Japanese diet-tracking mobile applications (apps). We identified five diet-tracking apps in the iTunes store during August 2020. A researcher entered the dietary data from a one-day paper-based dietary record (DR) previously obtained from apparently healthy free-living adults (15 males and 15 females; 22–65 years) into each app. The energy and nutrient intakes estimated by the apps were compared with those calculated using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan based on the paper-based DR (reference method). The number of dietary variables available ranged from one (energy in Mogutan) to 17 (FiNC). Compared to the DR-based estimates, the median energy intake was significantly overestimated by MyFitnessPal, Asken, Calomiru, and Mogutan. Moreover, the intakes of many nutrients were overestimated by Asken and Calomiru and underestimated by MyFitnessPal. For energy intake, the Spearman correlation coefficient between the DR and the apps was lowest for Mogutan (0.76) and highest for FiNC (0.96). The median correlation coefficient for nutrient intakes was lower in MyFitnessPal (0.50) than in the other three apps (0.80 in Asken, 0.87 in FiNC, and 0.88 in Calomiru). These results suggest that intake calculations differ among apps. Further evaluation is needed in free-living settings, where users input their own food intake.

An Italian Case Study for Assessing Nutrient Intake through Nutrition-Related Mobile Apps

“…These findings suggest that the digital tools could be feasible for assessing dietary intake limited of energy and the main macronutrients. The outcomes of this study are very close to those of other similar studies comparing apps or web-based 24-HRs [ 26 ]. For example, Faillaize et al and Ferrara et al [ 5 , 9 ] described that the apps selected provided estimates of energy and saturated fat intake comparable to the UK research standard method Dietplan6 version 6.0 and USDA Food Composition Database, respectively.…”

Low Comparability of Nutrition-Related Mobile Apps against the Polish Reference Method—A Validity Study

“…In turn, Griffiths, et al [ 22 ] observed that selected mobile apps (MyFitnessPal was the only one in common with our apps) tended to underestimate the intake of most nutrients and that comparative validity of energy calculations to Nutrition Data System for Research (an American Windows-based dietary analysis software) may be better than the estimate for macronutrients. In another study performed in Japan [ 26 ], one of the apps that was analyzed was MyFitnessPal, involved also in our analysis. Japanese researchers indicated that in comparison to other selected apps ( n = 4), MyFitnessPal had greater mean differences and wider limits of agreement.…”

“…The primary study outcome is the agreement between the tested apps and the reference method according to the energy (kcal). The calculation of sample size was performed similarly to [ 26 ], assuming beta = 0.2 and alpha = 0.05, and was performed for the Bland-Altman analysis for energy intake agreement assessment. We assumed an expected mean of differences of 0 kcal, an expected standard deviation of differences of 100 kcal, and a maximum allowed difference between methods of 250 kcal.…”

“…After an initial screening based on the descriptions provided by the store, we selected 19 apps (581 were excluded). The inclusion criteria were as follows: the tracking of energy and macronutrient intake [ 26 ], available in the Polish language, free version available [ 32 ], defined FCD). For the remaining 10 mobile apps, we developed the following exclusion criteria <4.5 star-rating and <1 million downloads [ 13 ] and finally identified five apps which were analyzed ( Figure 1 ).…”

“…Most of the previous validation studies focused on consumer-grade apps have been limited to the countries outside Europe (United States [ 22 , 23 ], Australia [ 24 , 25 ], Japan [ 26 ], Brazil [ 27 ]) and none have been conducted in Poland. Additionally, considering the constant updating of FCDs, which are the base of nutrition-related mobile apps, there is an urgent and ongoing need for further evaluation.…”