Personal Digital Assistants are Comparable to Traditional Diaries for Dietary Self-Monitoring During a Weight Loss Program

Abstract

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.

Design, feasibility, and acceptability of an intervention using personal digital assistant-based self-monitoring in managing type 2 diabetes

“…With that being said, our rate of 58% of participants entering 3 meals per day is comparable to the rates found by Glanz et al [35] and likely greater that the rates reported by Yon et al [36] * We have incomplete data in waves 2 and 4. Older-generation PDAs did not back-up BalanceLog® data when battery power was lost, and thus we were subsequently unable to retrieve these data.…”

“…In a behavioral weight loss program that included PDA-based self-monitoring, Yon et al found that participants submitted weekly e-journals 52% of the time. [35] However, adherence was defined as the availability of a weekly record regardless of the completeness of that record. Unless all meals were entered every day, the frequency of self-monitoring in the study by Yon et al is likely to be somewhat less than 52%.…”

Use of a Computerized Tracking System to Monitor and Provide Feedback on Dietary Goals for Calorie-Restricted Diets: The POUNDS LOST Study

“…20 Few studies have examined the utility of portable electronic recording devices for promoting behavior change and weight loss, and findings have been mixed. For example, Yon and associates 21 found no group differences in weight loss or frequency of self-monitoring among participants assigned to self-monitor their dietary intake through either traditional methods or PDAs. However, in another 6-month intervention study, the use of PDAs increased adherence to dietary self-monitoring significantly more than traditional paper diaries.…”

Personalised nutrition: the role of new dietary assessment methods

“…These devices contained an integrated pre-defined drop-down list of foods, typically ranging from 180 to >4000 items (18) , and have been demonstrated to be comparable with traditional methods of dietary assessment (46)(47)(48) . Progressions in technology have however resulted in smartphone use surpassing PDA as the foremost mobile method of dietary assessment (16,26,49) , with growing research emerging into the use of smartphones to measure dietary intakes using both applications (app) and image-based methods (50) .…”