SNEB Journal Club 1: Dietary Self-Monitoring, But Not Dietary Quality, Improves With Use of Smartphone App Technology

Speakers: Christopher M. Wharton, PhD, and Carol Johnston, PhD, RD, Arizona State University 

Based on the JNEB article http://www.jneb.org/article/S1499-4046(14)00469-2/fulltext 

Dietary self-monitoring is linked to improved weight loss success. Mobile technologies, such as smartphone applications (apps), might allow for improved dietary tracking adherence. The authors assessed the use of a popular smartphone app for dietary self-monitoring and weight loss by comparing it with traditional diet counseling and entrymethods. 

Learning objectives: 
1. Understand the role dietary self-monitoring in weight loss. 
2. Compare smart phone applications (‘apps’) with traditional dietary logs in terms of adherence to self-monitoring. 
3. Evaluate the impact of smart phone apps on weight loss and dietary quality compared to other methods of self-monitoring. 

Dr. Christopher Wharton is an associate professor of nutrition at Arizona State University’s School of Nutrition and Health Promotion. He also directs the Food Systems Transformation Initiative at ASU. Dr. Wharton’s primary research interests include dietary and lifestyle behavior change leveraging both technology and concepts of voluntary simplicity. He also studies local food systems, food security, and food system sustainability, in particular from the perspective of small-scale community farm operations.