Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Open Access

Abstract

MyPlate recommendations may be useful to enhance public knowledge of appropriate nutrition practices, however, language and technology barriers and the unawareness of the website makes MyPlate tools a lost opportunity for the Kuwaiti population. We sought out to enhance knowledge of nutritional practices such as consumption of more fruits and vegetables and reduced energy intake using MyPlate recommendations by relaying a translated version of the recommendations using printed and mobile versions over a 4-week period. We also attempted to exploit mobile technology to collect dietary intake using novel mobile based method. Participants were asked to take a photo of each item prior to consumption and after consumption, where photos are submitted via mobile sharing message App immediately. In addition, each photo was accompanied by detailed description of type, amount and brand of what was cosnumed. In addition, the mobile feedback allowed the staff to further ask the participants for dietary details to enhance the dietary collection whenever it was needed. There was a significant change in weight in the intervention group (65.5 kg to 65.0 kg, P<0.05) but not in the control group (60.7 kg to 60.8 kg). There were no changes in other indicators related to fruit and vegetables consumption or energy intake. The mobile feedback method was convienent with high compliance. Collection of dietary intake on mobile using instant feedback appears to be practical, convenient and cost effective. The dissemination of MyPlate recommendations on mobile appears to have a limited but positive impact over a short time frame. younis.salmean@gmail.com

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