Cultural Cuisine Meets Digital Dieting

Malaysia's diverse food culture is a challenge for dietary assessments. The country's main ethnic groups - Malays, Chinese, and Indians - have distinct dishes, cooking styles, and portion sizes. This makes it hard to collect accurate data on food intake.

Intake24 is a digital tool that helps with this problem. It's a web-based system that collects data on what people eat and drink over 24 hours. Users can report their food intake using prompts, searchable food lists, and images of portion sizes.

However, Intake24 was originally developed in the UK. To make it work in Malaysia, the system needs to be adapted to the local language, food culture, and portion sizes. This includes developing a Malaysian food list, creating images of portion sizes, and linking food composition data.

The development of Intake24 Malaysia involves two phases. The first phase includes translating the system, developing the food list, creating portion-size images, and calculating food composition data. The second phase involves testing the system with a small group of adults and comparing it to an interviewer-led assessment.