BALANCE (Bioengineering Approaches for Lifestyle Activity and Nutrition Continuous Engagement): Developing New Technology for Monitoring Energy Balance in Real Time
Free accessResearch articleFirst published online March, 2010
BALANCE (Bioengineering Approaches for Lifestyle Activity and Nutrition Continuous Engagement): Developing New Technology for Monitoring Energy Balance in Real Time
Methods that measure energy balance accurately in real time represent promising avenues to address the obesity epidemic. We developed an electronic food diary on a mobile phone that includes an energy balance visualization and computes and displays the difference between energy intake from food entries and energy expenditure from a multiple-sensor device that provides objective estimates of energy expenditure in real time. A geographic information system dataset containing locations associated with activity and eating episodes is integrated with an ArcPad mapping application on the phone to provide users with a visual display of food sources and locations associated with physical activity within their proximal environment. This innovative tool captures peoples' movement through space and time under free-living conditions and could potentially have many health-related applications in the future.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Obesity Trends 1985–2008. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm. Accessed October 30, 2009.
2.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. Physical Activity Statistics. Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/PASurveillance/StateSumV.asp. Accessed October 30, 2009.
3.
National Institutes of Health. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults—the evidence report. Obes Res.1998;6 (Suppl 2): 51S–209S.
4.
CohenJWKraussNA. Spending and service use among people with the fifteen most costly medical conditions, 1997. Health Aff (Millwood).2003;22 (2): 129–38.
5.
FlegalKMGraubardBIWilliamsonDFGailMH. Cause-specific excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA.2007;298 (17): 2028–37.
6.
ErshowAGOrtegaABaldwinJ TimothyHillJO. Engineering approaches to energy balance and obesity: opportunities for novel collaborations and research: report of a joint national science foundation and national institutes of health workshop. J Diabetes Sci Technol.2007;1 (1): 95–105.
7.
BakerRCKirschenbaumDS. Self-monitoring may be necessary for successful weight control. Behav Ther.1993;24 (3): 377–94.
8.
BoutelleKNKirschenbaumDS. Further support for consistent self-monitoring as a vital component of successful weight control. Obes Res.1998;6 (3): 219–24.
9.
TrabulsiJSchoellerDA. Evaluation of dietary assessment instruments against doubly labeled water, a biomarker of habitual energy intake. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab.2001;281 (5): E891–9.
10.
DuncanGESydemanSJPerriMGLimacherMCMartinAD. Can sedentary adults accurately recall the intensity of their physical activity?. Prev Med.2001;33 (1): 18–26.
11.
SchwarzN. Retrospective and concurrent self-reports: The rationale for real-time data capture. In: StoneAAShiffmanSSAtienzaANebelingL, eds. The science of real-time data capture: self-reports in health research. New York: Oxford University Press; 2007: 11–26.
12.
BeasleyJRileyWTJean-MaryJ. Accuracy of a PDA-based dietary assessment program. Nutrition.2005;21 (6): 672–7.
13.
BeasleyJMRileyWTDavisASinghJ. Evaluation of a PDA-based dietary assessment and intervention program: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Coll Nutr.2008;27 (2): 280–6.
14.
TsangMWMokMKamGJungMTangAChanUChuCMLiIChanJ. Improvement in diabetes control with a monitoring system based on a hand-held, touch-screen electronic diary. J Telemed Telecare.2001;7 (1): 47–50.
15.
YonBAJohnsonRKHarvey-BerinoJGoldBCHowardAB. Personal digital assistants are comparable to traditional diaries for dietary self-monitoring during a weight loss program. J Behav Med.2007;30 (2): 165–75.
16.
PolzienKMJakicicJMTateDFOttoAD. The efficacy of a technology-based system in a short-term behavioral weight loss intervention. Obesity (Silver Spring).2007;15 (4): 825–30.
17.
HurlingRCattMBoniMDFairleyBWHurstTMurrayPRichardsonASodhiJS. Using internet and mobile phone technology to deliver an automated physical activity program: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res.2007;9 (2): e7.
18.
TsaiCCLeeGRaabFNormanGJSohnTGriswoldWGPatrickK. Usability and feasibility of PmEB: a mobile phone application for monitoring real time caloric balance. Mobile Net Appl.2007;12 (2–3): 173–84.
19.
LesterJChoudhuryTKernNBorrielloGHannafordB. A hybrid discriminative/generative approach for modeling human activities. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. Edinburgh, Scotland. 2005.
20.
LesterJChoudhuryTBorrielloG. A practical approach to recognizing physical activities. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Pervasive Computing, May 7–10, 2006, Dublin, Ireland. Heidelberg: Springer Berlin; 2006: 1–16.
21.
American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription. WhaleyMHBrubakerPHOttoR, eds. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.
22.
AinsworthBEHaskellWLWhittMCIrwinMLSwartzAMStrathSJO'BrienWLBassettDRJrSchmitzKHEmplaincourtPOJacobsDRJrLeonAS. Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities. Med Sci Sports Exerc.2000;32 (9 Suppl): S498–504.
23.
LesterJHartungCPinaLLibbyRDuncanGEBorrielloG. Validated caloric expenditure estimation using a single body-worn sensor. In: Ubicomp 2009. September 30–October 3, 2009, Orlando, FL.
24.
RyuYSSmith-JacksonTL. Reliability and validity of the mobile phone usability questionnaire (MPUQ). J Usability Studies.2006;2 (1): 39–53.
25.
LewisJR. IBM computer usability satisfaction questionnaires: psychometric evaluation and instructions for use. Int J Hum-Comput Interact.1995;7 (1): 57–78.
