Electronic PDA dietary and physical activity registers in weight loss treatment program for children: a description of the ETIOBE personal digital assistant system

Abstract

Childhood obesity is a significant health problem in western societies. Self-monitoring techniques, such as the use of dietary and physical activity registers, are considered to be central to cognitive-behavioral weight control programs. Traditionally, these conventional diaries have been created using pen and paper, however, this technique has several limitations. The objective of this paper is to describe an electronic Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) system for recording food and physical activity for the treatment of childhood obesity. The authors review the benefits and limitations of such electronic diaries.