Michelle Rose Jospe*, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Kirsty Fairbairn, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Tracy Perry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Track: Research Presentation Topic: Mobile & Tablet Health Applications Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2013-09-25

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Background: The availability of diet applications (diet apps) on smartphones is increasing. Diet apps allow users to enter their food intake in real-time. Food intake is converted to nutrient intake, which is instantaneously compared with the users’ calculated energy and nutrient goals. The use of new mobile technologies, such as smartphones, to assess and monitor dietary intake has been briefly examined, and but never in an athletic population. Sports dietetics is a field that may benefit from the use of diet apps, as athletes are required to consume specific quantities of nutrients (such as one gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day), and diet apps may help athletes track their nutrient intake. The current use and perception of diet apps by sports dietitians and their clients is unknown.

Objective: The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and perception of smartphone diet app use by sports dietitians.

Methods: A 27-item cross-sectional online survey was developed and sent to 1709 sports dietitians to determine diet app use, as well as dietary assessment and nutrition intervention practices in sports dietetics. Respondents included sports dietitians from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, who were surveyed between 22 June and 11 November 2012.
Results: The questionnaire had a response rate of 10.3% (180/1709). Of the 176 eligible respondents to the questionnaire, 32.4% (n=57) used diet apps with clients in sports dietetics. Twenty-eight different diet apps were used. MyFitnessPal was the most used diet app, with 56.1% (32/57) of users. Diet app users had a positive perception of diet apps, with the majority of respondents viewing diet apps as “better” (25/53, 47. 2%) or “equivalent” (22/53, 41.5%) compared with traditional dietary assessment methods. The primary perceived benefits of diet apps were their ubiquity (27/54, 50.0%), convenience (14/54, 25.9%), and their ease of use (12/54, 22.2%). The primary perceived limitations of diet apps were problems with the nutrient database (22/54, 40.7%), incorrect portion size selection by the client (12/54, 22.2%), and incorrect food selection by the client (10/54, 18.5%).

Conclusion: Smartphone diet app use is in the nascent stage of implementation in sports dietetics, but diet app use is already perceived as effective and beneficial for athletes who are trying to meet nutritional goals. As the adoption of smartphones increases and sophistication of the software improves, diet apps will grow in importance and become a valuable tool in the dietetic profession.