Design and validation of a photographic atlas of Peruvian foods to evaluate the food consumption of children from 6 to 12 months of age

Abstract

Objective Design and validation a photographic atlas of Peruvian foods to evaluate the food consumption of children from 6 to 12 months of age. Methods Quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study. 12 food groups were established according to their nutrient content. The atlas is designed to be applied to mothers, fathers, or caregivers of children from 6 to 12 months of age. The methodology was divided into four stages: i) selection of the food list, regional recipe books from Peru were reviewed, then interviews with mothers of children in the age range were verified for the final selection of the food list; ii) preparation and weighing of food, utensils were used to establish home measurements and with the established weight the macro and micronutrients were calculated with tables of composition of Peruvian foods; iii) development of the photographic session, a professional photographer with previous experience in similar works was used; and iv) expert validation, with the participation of 5 nutritionists with experience in infant feeding. Results The proposed atlas includes 57 foods with a total of 91 photographs. The content validity coefficient according to food category and in total obtained an assessment of 0.75 (Cohen's kappa coefficient), which gives it acceptable validity and agreement. Conclusions The photographic atlas of food portions for infant feeding in Peru is a practical, reliable, and culturally appropriate visual tool to help estimate the amount of food consumed by this population, which will facilitate the estimation of food intake.