Title: Using myfood24 for dietary assessment and monitoring nutritional related diseases in population studies.
Funder: The Academy of Medical Sciences

Abstract: During this research visit I will get the chance to use a recently developed approach called myfood 24 a dietary assessment tool developed by the nutritional epidemiology group at University of Leeds and Imperial College London that will be used for teaching and nutritional epidemiological research purposes. Through the visit I will learn more about the underpinning databases of myfood24 and prepare a project plan to undertake some validation when I will return. myfood24 is a self-completed online 24 h dietary recall tool, incorporating elements of an automated multiple pass methodology. The myfood24 food database provides the user with an immediate nutritional analysis of their dietary intake. This approach enables participants to record their dietary intake by selecting foods and portion sizes and adding them to their food diary. Researchers, also can manage participants, track activity and use the results generated to provide a full range of food and nutrient outputs. It holds extensive macro-and micro-nutrient information no other tool has a database like this. Myfood 24 can play a crucial role in supporting patient care to minimize the risk of complication linked to poor nutrition and reduce rates of diet-related diseases through the better monitoring and tracking of nutritional intake. It improves completion rates, and increases the accuracy of the dietary assessment hence reducing judgment bias, which is associated with omissions in reporting and underestimation of portion sizes of unhealthy foods. Given these favorable features of Myfood 24 in healthy populations, their application in the management of medical conditions has begun to be explored. Such tool also enables remote monitoring and follow up, potentially reducing the number of face-to-face appointments; therefore, there could be substantial clinical benefits and cost reductions associated with their use. The tool was developed for large scale epidemiological studies in the UK population. Usability and acceptability testing of myfood24 has shown it is suitable to be used in healthy UK teenager and adult populations. During this visit I will develop in collaboration with the nutritional epidemiology group at University of Leeds the Arabic version of myfood 24 to be used for both educational and clinical researches, and epidemiological studies. During the visit I will learn more about the underpinning databases of myfood24 and prepare a project plan to undertake some validation when I will return. Potential visit timetable: •Review myfood24 Arabic version for use in Jordan. •Review underlying food composition database to ensure all relevant Jordanian foods and dishes are included. •Create a new database with new names/portion sizes/nutrient composition information as required or adapt existing database. •Explore back of pack labels for key local supermarkets to identify any missing products. •Undertake translations as necessary for new foods etc. •Prepare a validation study project proposal which could be undertaken on return. •Contribute to the lunchtime seminar series with talk of choice. If time allows, I will undertake some analysis of existing myfood24 validation study in a UK population sample, perhaps exploring variations in reported intakes by activity


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE