BACKGROUND
Chinese patients with diabetes do not receive adequate education in dietary management to control blood glucose. Technology-based tools can help them track their dietary intake. However, limited research examined mobile dietary tracking tools with dish-based composition database for Chinese populations.
OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to examine the validity of mobile-based nutrient analysis tools against nutrient analysis conducted by dietitians on assessment of Chinese dishes.
METHODS
Registered Dietitian (RD)-performed nutrient analysis was used as the reference. Two mobile-based nutrient analysis tools were selected for the comparison: BD Diabetes Health Coach (an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Coach developed in the current study upon a dish composition database) and Boohoo App (a popular open-access dietary tracking tool in China). Both RDs and mobile-based tools conducted nutrient analysis of the same dishes commonly consumed in China regarding total calories, carbohydrate, fat, and protein content. Descriptive statistics were analyzed. Paired t-tests, Wilcoxon signed rank tests, linear regression and Bland-Altmanwere used to compare results between the RDs and the mobile tools.
RESULTS
Strong positive correlations between AI Coach- and RD-performed analyses results and moderate positive correlations between Boohoo-performed and RD-performed analyses results were observed for energy and all macronutrients. Bland-Altman plots showed small bias and narrow limit of agreement between AI Coach- and RD-performed analyses, indicating AI Coach-performed analysis is comparable to RD-performed analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
The AI Coach tool developed in the current study supported by a dish composition database consisting of commonly consumed Chinese dishes was an effective alternative to dietitians in total calorie and macronutrient analysis. This is promising in helping patients with diabetes manage blood glucose through dietary tracking.