New tool aims to solve Africa's dietary data gap
Researchers in Nigeria have created an online dietary assessment platform tailored to West African foods and eating patterns—the first tool of its kind for the region. The system could help nutrition researchers, public health officials, and food companies better understand eating habits across a continent where such data has been critically scarce.
Originaltitel: Development and Pilot Study of myfood24 West Africa—An Online Tool for Dietary Assessment in Nigeria
<p>Background and objective: Tools to accurately and efficiently measure dietary intake in Nigeria are lacking. We aimed to develop and assess the usability of a new online dietary assessment tool for Nigeria—myfood24 West Africa. Methods: We developed the myfood24 West Africa database using data from existing food composition tables, packaged foods labels and research articles. The development followed seven steps: identified data sources, selected foods, processed/cleaned the data, calculated the nutrient content of recipes, created and allocated portion sizes, quality-checked the database and developed food accompaniments. To pilot the tool, we recruited 179 university staff in Nigeria using a cross-sectional design. Usability was assessed using a questionnaire that included the System Usability Scale (SUS) and a feedback session. Results: The database included 924 foods, with up to 54 nutrients and 35 portion-size images allocated to foods. Sixty percent of the data were sourced from the 2019 West Africa Food Composition Table, 17% from back-of-pack labels of packaged foods, 14% from the 2017 Nigerian Food Composition Table, 5% from generated recipes and 4% from the published literature. Of the participants, 30% (n = 53) self-recorded their food intake, with a total of 1345 food and drink entries from both self- and interviewer-collected data. The mean SUS score of 74 (95% CI: 68,79) indicated good usability. The feedback showed that the tool was user-friendly, educational and included a variety of local foods. Conclusions: This new tool will enhance the dietary assessment of the Nigerian population. More work will expand coverage to include more foods from the region.</p>