In close collaboration with ongoing work at the University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center (NCC), the objective of this project is to design (in Phase I) and fully develop (in Phase II) a new user interface to NCC's food and nutrient databases. The existing NCC Minnesota NDS software is designed to be used by and to have its results interpreted by trained interviewers and nutritionists. The proposed system will be designed to allow untrained individuals to collect their own dietary records and to quickly and easily scrutinize important aspects of their own food consumption. Data collected with this new system will reflect the same level of specificity as, and be compatible with, records collected via the existing NDS software. Thus the new Layperson's Nutrition Data System (LNDS) will provide: (1) An intuitive user interface providing immediate nutrient analysis for end-users concerned with monitoring or modifying their own diets; and (2) A less expensive data collection mechanism for dietary studies since it will not require a trained interviewer to attend to each record. This will allow dietary studies to collect more records at lower cost.
