Abstract:
Dietary assessment may be described as the science and art
of evaluating the dietary intake of individuals or groups for
research or as basis for nutrition care(1). While screening and
comprehensive assessments have been differentiated(2),
both are characterised by phases of varying detail. Data
collection and data evaluation are respectively the beginning
(input) and endpoint (output). The aim of a particular
dietary evaluation will determine the most appropriate tools
and techniques in each phase. Using technology should
improve at least the efficiency and ideally also the quality of
dietary assessments, which are known to be labourintensive
and threatened by concerns about validity(3).
Many reviews about the use of technology in dietary
assessment have been published(4–15). The current invited
commentary aims to place these technologies into the
context of dietary assessment viewed as a system.
