Surveying Nutrient Assessment With Photographs of Meals (SNAPMe) Study

The purpose of this study is to develop a method that uses photography to accurately calculate the types and amounts of nutrients in meals that are consumed by healthy participants, thereby replacing the use of electronic food records. Researchers expect about 100 healthy individuals at UC Davis and around the U.S. will join to participate in this research. Participation in this study will involve taking pictures of every meal and snack the individual consumes using a smartphone for 3 days (2 weekdays, 1 weekend day) and uploading the images to a mobile phone application called Bitesnap. In addition, the participant will be asked to complete online food records on the same days using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24-2020). Each participant will have 4 weeks to complete the study. The study website can be viewed here: https://snapme.ucdavis.edu/

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy adults
• Has a social security number or Tax ID
• Age 18-65 years of age
• Lives anywhere in the United States of America
• Has been weight-stable (has not lost or gained 10% of body weight) within the past 3 months
• Currently owns a smart phone (Android or iPhone)
• Has owned and used a smart phone for at least 12 months
• Consumes at least 3 meals per day
• Consumes at least 50% of meals that are prepared at/from home vs. outside the home (dine-in restaurants, take-out, etc.)
• Prepares at least 50% of the prepared meals within their household
• Willingness to refrain from participating in any experimental trials during this study period
• Willingness to refrain from having any non-emergency, elective surgeries during the study period
• Willingness to eat different/variety of foods for each meal over the three days of dietary record collection
• Willingness to refrain from consuming meal substitution items (examples: Slimfast shake, Soylent, meal replacement bars) over the three days of dietary record collection
• Willingness to download and use an app linked to their smart phone's camera and photo storage
• Willingness to spend 1-2 hours per day on each of the three study days to: 1)enter detailed information about each meal they consume using an online record system and an app on their smart phone and 2) take and upload photos of their meals on their smart phone
• Willingness to refrain from sharing meals with other participants during data collection
• Passes a food matching test on the online screening survey with score >70%.

Exclusion criteria

• Currently pregnant or plans to become pregnant several weeks prior to enrollment and during the study period
• History of any type of eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, etc.)
• Use of restrictive diets such as caloric restriction or intermittent fasting of more than 12 hours that has resulted in weight loss greater than 10% of their body weight within the past 3months ordiets
• Anyone the investigator feels is not an applicable participant.