App review: Whats App messaging for food records

Reviewed by Charles Ashford MSc, CISSN, SERr

It is no secret that quantifying energy intake in athletes is almost impossible to achieve outside of rigorous laboratory settings. The use of food diaries, with or without the guidance of a professional, consistently reports errors in reliability and validity, with individuals typically under or over reporting their energy intake. In the modern day environment, where smart phones are an integral part of many athlete’s daily routine, there may be a better method to better understand what our athletes are eating on a day-to-day basis.

Whats App is a free cross-platform messaging system owned by Facebook. The application allows users to send messages, images, documents and voice messages free of charge. Additionally, you can stay in touch with individuals wherever they may be in the world. Research conducted by Nessan Costello and his team at Leeds Beckett University took 12 elite adolescent rugby players and tracked their energy intake using a combination of photo-based assessments through Whats App, estimated food diaries and interviews. Researchers found the results supported the ability of this approach to accurately assess the diet of elite adolescent athletes. (1) These findings are both novel and exciting for practitioners and researchers hoping to gain a greater understanding of what exactly their athletes are eating.

How to utilize WhatsApp ‘Snap-N-Send’ approach:

Step one: The athlete takes a picture of what food and/or fluid they are about to consume.

Step two: The athlete sends the picture to the practitioner with a detailed description, including brand names, portion size/weight, cooking methods and items which may not be pictured. Using this separate messaging system allows for some separation from your personal and professional life.

Step three: The practitioner can provide immediate feedback on the meal and also provide guidance to the athlete.

The immediate feedback can help motivate, support and incentivize athletes in regard to their daily nutrition intake. This can facilitate positive behavior change due to real-time dietary assessment. Lastly, for the busy practitioner, using a separate messaging system can allow for some separation from your personal and professional life—which is highly recommended!

For more information, visit: https://www.whatsapp.com/

Reference

Costello, N. K. Deighton, J. Dyson, J. Mckenna and B. Jones. 2017. Snad-N-Send: A valid and reliable method for assessing the energy intake of elite adolescent athletes. European Journal of Sport Science Vol 17, Issue 8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28627289