Evaluating Household Food Behavior With a Smartphone App

Evaluating Household Food Behavior With a Smartphone App

The purpose of this study is to test the use of a smartphone app as a way to measure food waste.

Investigators propose to improve the accuracy and convenience of household food waste measurement so that consumer food waste program evaluations yield more power, less bias, less measurement error, and greater representation of targeted populations.

Investigators will improve measurement via the development of the FoodImage smartphone app, a technology leveraging the investigators' expertise in creating and deploying apps to measure food intake and deliver nutritional interventions in free-living household conditions. Investigators will validate the app against weighed waste in a controlled laboratory setting.

The study will yield an app ready for future study deployment while analyses of the data will inform rapidly evolving policy discussions concerning optimal approaches to reduce food waste. These outcomes align with program priorities to understand the economics of food waste and to use behavioral economics to address consumption behavior.

Specific objectives include:

1. Development of FoodImage, a smartphone app that measures household food waste and food-waste-related behaviors,
2. Assess differences in the accuracy and time burden of measurements taken with the FoodImage app versus two current household food waste measurement approaches (a pen-and-paper diary, and a pen-and-paper diary with a scale).
3. Use the FoodImage app in a pilot randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of reducing household food waste through behavioral nudges in the form of personalized feedback about food waste levels and household-specific reduction goals.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 18-65 years
• body mass index 18.5 - 50 kg/m2, based on self-reported height and weight
• Shops for groceries
• Conducts some of the food shopping and food preparation for their household
• Be willing to do food shopping for the study (if necessary)
• Have an iPhone and an operable Apple ID, password, and email address and is willing to use these to collect data during the study, acknowledging that data usage, and associated charges, are a result of study participation
• Be willing to complete all study procedures corresponding to their randomization group

Exclusion Criteria:

In addition to those who do not meet inclusion criteria, subjects who meet any of the following criteria will be excluded from enrollment:

• Persons who are severely immune compromised
• Persons who are pregnant, as assessed by self-report
• Pennington employee