The development and validation of a novel computer program to assess food and nutrition intake in Portuguese schoolchildren

Abstract

Food and nutrition are important determinants of non-communicable diseases such as childhood obesity which is a public health priority1-3. Portugal has shown one of the highest and accelerated increasing rates of childhood obesity in European Union4, with an estimated prevalence of overweight of 37,9% and 15,3% of obesity (WHO criteria)5. Understanding how to prevent it remains a research question6. However the design of potentially effective interventions is hampered by the general lack of good-quality data available7,8. There is no validated methodology available to assess food and nutrition intake in schoolage Portuguese children (Figure 1)9. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate, for the first time in Portugal, a novel engaging method of assessing food and nutrition intake of schoolage Portuguese children.