Background: Monitoring dietary intake and accurately estimating the macronutrients of foods is a daily challenge for children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), especially those with low literacy and numeracy levels. Harnessing technology through image-based dietary assessment tools, such as the Mobile Food Record (mFRTM), shows promise to reduce diabetes burden and improve clinical care. However, the mFRTM has not been studied in paediatric T1D.
Aim: This pilot study aimed to assess the usability and acceptability of the mFRTM in children and adolescents with T1D.
Method: 9 to 18 year olds with T1D >1 year were recruited from Perth Children’s Hospital. The mFRTM App was downloaded onto personal devices and users captured before- and after-eating images for four consecutive days. Sociodemographic and usability surveys were collected. A trained analyst assessed mFRTM for dietary intake, image clarity and the inclusion of the fiducial marker for portion size estimation.
Results: 25 participants have been recruited to date (60% female), with a mean age of 14.2(SD2.5) years and diabetes duration of 7.8±4.2 years.
A mean of 16±7 images sets were taken over the 4-days, with 86.7±14% of ‘before eating’ images considered clear. 96.5±7% of image sets contained ‘after eating’ images. All participants agreed it was easy to remember the fiducial marker in meal images, supported by 97.2±6% of images containing the marker.
Ten participants stated the mFRTM interfered with their daily activities, while only two agreed the mFRTM made them behave differently. Only one participant reported using a shortcut when taking images if they were in a rush, while 96% of participants reported forgetting to use the mFRTM at least once.
Conclusion: The mFRTM App demonstrated usability in the cohort of children and adolescents living with T1D. Future investigations involve evaluating the feasibility of using the mFRTM to tailor clinical care.