ABSTRACT
Objective
To explore the feasibility of using an image-based food photography methodology (Remote
Food Photography Method) in a rural, low-resource audience and use the photos to examine
the context of family dinner.
Design
Parents used the SmartIntake app on study-issued tablets to take before and after
photos of their and their child's dinner for about 7 nights and participated in a
mini-focus group to discuss their experience with the Remote Food Photography Method.
Setting
Six Head Start/preschool centers in rural Colorado.
Participants
Mother–child dyads (n = 31).
Variables Measured
Number and quality of photos received, participant feedback, meal timing, concordance,
location, preparation, and quality.
Analysis
The researchers assessed feasibility via practicality (percent photos received) and
acceptability (general inductive approach used to analyze mini-focus group transcripts
for participant feedback); time stamps, meal quality, and food preparation scales
were used to analyze dinner photos.
Results
The majority of photographs (738 of 864) were received. Participants reacted favorably
to the methodology; for some, it led to greater self-reflection about mealtime. Mother–child
dyads usually ate dinner at the same time and often ate the same food. Children were
frequently served protein and refined grains and were rarely served whole grains or
fruit. Many families relied on convenience foods.
Conclusions and Implications
Digital food photography was feasible in this audience. Photos yielded a holistic
picture of family dinnertime: meal timing, location, concordance in parent–child meals,
level of preparation, and meal quality.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 01, 2019
Accepted:
January 23,
2019
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors’ conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org. The second author of this article (S. L. Johnson) served on the JNEB staff as Associate Editor. Review of this article was handled, exclusively, by the Editor-in-Chief to minimize conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
