Trial reportThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2017
The international food unit: a new measurement aid that can improve portion size estimation.
Trial report in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cubes and playdough are feasible and acceptable methods to estimate food group intake with the Global Diet Quality Score app.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Validation of Two Portion Size Estimation Methods for Use with the Global Diet Quality Score App.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Image-Based Volume Estimation for Food in a Bowl.Journal of food engineering · 2024Article
- NutriBase - management system for the integration and interoperability of food- and nutrition-related data and knowledge.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Estimation of Plate and Bowl Dimensions for Food Portion Size Assessment in a Wearable Sensor System.IEEE sensors journal · 2023Article
- A Novel Approach to Dining Bowl Reconstruction for Image-Based Food Volume Estimation.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The accuracy of portion size estimation using food images and textual descriptions of portion sizes: an evaluation study.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2021Article
- Effect of Water Hardness on Catechin and Caffeine Content in Green Tea Infusions.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Portion size and consistency as indicators of complementary food energy intake.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Article
- Integrating nutrition into the mathematics curriculum in Australian primary schools: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2020Article
- FoodFoto: A Systems Thinking Approach to Dietary Intake Collection, Storage and Analysis.Computers, informatics, nursing : CIN · 2020Article
- Consumer Understanding, Perception and Interpretation of Serving Size Information on Food Labels: A Scoping Review.Nutrients · 2019Article
- Image-based food portion size estimation using a smartphone without a fiducial marker.Public health nutrition · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPortion size education tools, aids and interventions can be effective in helping prevent weight gain. However consumers have difficulties in estimating food portion sizes and are confused by inconsistencies in measurement units and terminologies currently used. Visual cues are an important mediator of portion size estimation, but standardized measurement units are required. In the current study, we present a new food volume estimation tool and test the ability of young adults to accurately quantify food volumes. The International Food Unit™ (IFU™) is a 4x4x4 cm cube (64cm
methodsThe performance of the IFU™ was tested in a randomized between-subject experiment (n = 128 adults, 66 men) that estimated volumes of 17 foods using four methods; the IFU™ cube, a deformable modelling clay cube, a household measuring cup or no aid (weight estimation). Estimation errors were compared between groups using Kruskall-Wallis tests and post-hoc comparisons.
resultsEstimation errors differed significantly between groups (H(3) = 28.48, p < .001). The volume estimations were most accurate in the group using the IFU™ cube (Mdn = 18.9%, IQR = 50.2) and least accurate using the measuring cup (Mdn = 87.7%, IQR = 56.1). The modelling clay cube led to a median error of 44.8% (IQR = 41.9). Compared with the measuring cup, the estimation errors using the IFU™ were significantly smaller for 12 food portions and similar for 5 food portions. Weight estimation was associated with a median error of 23.5% (IQR = 79.8).
conclusionsThe IFU™ improves volume estimation accuracy compared to other methods. The cubic shape was perceived as favourable, with subdivision and multiplication facilitating volume estimation. Further studies should investigate whether the IFU™ can facilitate portion size training and whether portion size education using the IFU™ is effective and sustainable without the aid. A 3-dimensional IFU™ could serve as a reference object for estimating food volume.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.