Food Photography

For the purposes of this study, the Remote Food Photography Method® (RFPM) and SmartIntake® app were used to capture meal photos. Digital photography has a long history of being used to accurately quantify the intake of children^12,22–25 and adults^26,27 in cafeteria and similar settings. The RFPM is a similar method but is used to capture energy and nutrient intake in free-living conditions, and it has been found to accurately estimate the intake of adults^28,29 and children^30,31. Detailed methodology associated with the RFPM is described elsewhere²⁹. Briefly, in the current study, participants used the SmartIntake mobile device application on a study-issued iPad (Apple, Inc., Cupertino, CA) to take a photo of their meal and their preschool child’s meal both before and after consumption. In addition to the photos, the SmartIntake app prompted participants to send a description of the food in the photo (i.e. describing the meal or labeling milk as whole vs 1%) through the app. The photos and corresponding descriptions were wirelessly transmitted to a university server in real time, where the research team reviewed the data for quality and completeness. Because the SmartIntake app was only available on the iOS platform at the time of the study (spring 2017), participants were given study-issued iPads for the week so as not to limit participation to those who already owned an Apple™ device.