New research has revealed that taking photos of your food makes it easier to remember what and how much you eat.
The Curtin University study found using mobile phones made it simpler to collect accurate dietary data, suggesting that digital methods are important tools to guide health advice and nutrition policy.
The study, published in JMIR Human Factors, found that most people were eager to record their diet but tools needed to be easy and quick to use.
Participants in the study were happy to use technology but said online food recall tools were time-consuming and found it difficult to remember the details of what they ate as they tried to monitor their food intake.
The research found participants strongly preferred snapping photos of their meals, as food photos made it easier for them to remember what and how much they consumed.
Most participants said taking pictures of their plates was the easiest and most accurate way to recall their diet.
First author and PhD candidate Janelle Healy, from Curtin's School of Population Health, said it was critical to improve dietary data collection methods as diet-related diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes are on the rise.
"Better data leads to better health advice," Mrs Healy said.
"People are busy, distracted and often eat on the go. Photos reduce the pressure to remember every detail and provide a much clearer picture of what was eaten."
The study compared three widely used 24-hour dietary recall methods, including two standard online tools and a method using photos taken at the time of eating on a mobile phone.
The verdict was clear, photographs reduced the frustrations of online dietary recall tools.
Participants described existing online recall tools as slow, confusing and mentally exhausting, especially when estimating portion sizes.
In contrast, when users viewed images of their own meals it helped jog memory and improved their confidence in what they reported, even when meals were complex or eaten under time pressure.
Co-author Professor Christina Pollard from Curtin's School of Population Health said relying on memory alone was a major flaw in current diet tracking methods
"Participants told us that estimating portions is extremely difficult and that searching long food lists often leads them to guess or choose the 'closest option' rather than what they really ate," Professor Pollard said.
"Our findings show that people want dietary methods that are faster and easier to use and technology now gives us the opportunity to deliver that." The paper 'User Preferences for an Image-Assisted Dietary Recall: Qualitative Study Comparing 3 Dietary Assessment Methods' was published in JMIR Human Factors.
