RESUMO
The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of using digital pictures to assess individuals' nutrient intakes from school lunch. The subjects for the study were 29 male students and 40 female students from two classes in a middle school located in Daejeon Metropolitan City, Korea. The school lunch service was self-operated and the students were allowed to portion the foods by themselves. The teacher in charge of each class took digital pictures of every student's lunch plate that was tagged with an i.d. number, before and after eating for two consecutive days. The researchers estimated the amount of food, which an individual actually consumed by comparing pre- and post-pictures of their plate with reference food pictures for better visual estimation of the food amounts. Individual energy and nutrient intakes were calculated using CAN-Pro (ver 3.0) using the food intake data visually estimated from the digital pictures and school lunch recipes. The teachers in charge reported that about 10~15 additional minutes were needed to take the pictures used for the study and this additional time did not place much burden on the service process during the lunch period. The results showed that the students' actual energy and nutrient intakes from the same school lunch menus were quite varied as the serving portions were not regulated and left-overs were not prohibited. This pilot study suggests that examination of individual nutrient intake using digital picture is a feasible method in the context of school lunch service.