Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Communication
  • Published:

Can children and adolescents use photographs of food to estimate portion sizes?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 59, pages 611–617 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

The goals of this study were to investigate whether children and adolescents can accurately estimate portion sizes of preweighed food by viewing photographs of food, and whether age influences the ability to estimate food portion sizes.

Subjects:

A total of 63 male and female volunteers aged 9–19 y participated in the study.

Design:

Each participant received a photographic booklet with photograph series of 13 food items. Participants over 10 y of age were asked to estimate portion sizes of food on 34 plates placed in front of them by comparing the different portions to corresponding photographs of food. Younger participants were asked to estimate portion sizes of food on 17 plates by comparing the portions to photographs.

Results:

Participants made 2019 comparisons between actual food portion sizes and photographs of food portion sizes. On average, 60% of the comparisons were made correctly. A photograph directly adjacent to the photograph depicting the correct portion size was chosen in 35% of the comparisons and 5% of the comparisons were made incorrectly. Portion sizes were estimated more accurately when the actual served portions of food had exactly the same appearance as the foods portrayed in the photographic booklet. No differences existed between children's and adolescents' abilities to estimate portion sizes using photographs.

Conclusions:

Large variability may exist in an individual's capability of choosing a photograph that correctly depicts food portion sizes, but the error at the group level is quite small. These data indicate that a photographic booklet of foods can be a useful tool for portion size estimates in these age groups.

Sponsorship: The Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation through Norwegian Health Association.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Faggiano F, Vineis P, Cravanzola D, Pisani P, Xompero G, Riboli E & Kaaks R (1992): Validation of a method for the estimation of food portion size. Epidemiology 3, 379–382.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frobisher C & Maxwell SM (2003): The estimation of food portion sizes: a comparison between using descriptions of portion sizes and a photographic food atlas by children and adults. J. Hum. Nutr. Diet. 16, 181–188.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Håglin L, Hagman U & Nilsson M (1995): Evaluation of the Meal Model ‘Matmallen’. A means of estimating consumed amounts of food. Scand. J. Nutr. 39, 79–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankin JH, Nomura AM, Lee J, Hirohata T & Kolonel LN (1983): Reproducibility of a diet history questionnaire in a case-control study of breast cancer. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 37, 981–985.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haraldsdottir J, Tjonneland A & Overvad K (1994): Validity of individual portion size estimates in a food frequency questionnaire. Int. J. Epidemiol. 23, 786–796.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas F, Niravong M, Villeminot S, Kaaks R & Clavel-Chapelon F (1995): Estimation of food portion size using photographs: validity, strengths, weaknesses and recommendations. J. Hum. Nutr. Diet. 8, 65–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson M, Atkinson M & Darbyshire S (1994): Food photography. I: The perception of food portion size from photographs. Br. J. Nutr. 72, 649–663.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson M, Atkinson M & Darbyshire S (1996): Food photography II: use of food photographs for estimating portion size and the nutrient content of meals. Br. J. Nutr. 76, 31–49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson M & Bingham SA (1997): Assessment of food consumption and nutrient intake. In Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology, eds BM Margetts & M Nelson, pp 123–169. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pietinen P, Hartman AM, Haapa E, Räsänen L, Haapakoski J, Palmgren J, Albanes D, Virtamo J & Huttunen J (1988): Reproducibility and validity of dietary assessment instruments. 1. A self-administered food use questionnaire with a portion size picture booklet. Am. J. Epidemiol. 128, 655–666.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson F, Morritz W, McGuinness P & Hackett AF (1997): A study of the use of a photographic food atlas to estimate served and self-served portion sizes. J. Hum. Nutr. Diet. 10, 117–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robson PJ & Livingstone MB (2000): An evaluation of food photographs as a tool for quantifying food and nutrient intakes. Public Health Nutr. 3, 183–192.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Slimani N, Deharveng G, Charrondière RU, van Kappel AL, Ocké MC, Welch A, Lagiou A, van Liere M, Agudo A, Pala V, Brandstetter B, Andren C, Stripp C, van Staveren WA & Riboli E (1999): Structure of the standardized computerized 24-h diet recall interview used as reference method in the 22 centers participating in the EPIC project. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Comput. Methods Programs Biomed. 58, 251–266.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tjønneland A, Haraldsdòttir J, Overvad K, Stripp C, Ewertz M & Jensen OM (1992): Influence of individually estimated portion size data on the validity of a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Int. J. Epidemiol. 21, 770–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Øverby NC, Lillegaard ITL, Johanson L & Andersen LF (2004): High intake of added sugar among Norwegian children and adolescents. Public Health Nutr. 7, 285–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study has been financed with the aid of EXTRA funds from the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation through Norwegian Health Association.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway

    I T L Lillegaard, N C Øverby & L F Andersen

Authors
  1. I T L Lillegaard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N C Øverby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L F Andersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to I T L Lillegaard.

Additional information

Guarantor: ITL Lillegaard.

Contributors: ITLL contributed to study design, data collection, data analysis and writing of the paper. NCØ contributed to study design, data collection and draft of the paper. LFA contributed to study design, data analysis and writing of the paper.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Weights of the foods represented in the photographic booklet are given in Table A1.

Table a1 Weights (g) of the foods represented in the photographic booklet (photographs A–D)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lillegaard, I., Øverby, N. & Andersen, L. Can children and adolescents use photographs of food to estimate portion sizes?. Eur J Clin Nutr 59, 611–617 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602119

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602119

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links