RESEARCH PAPER WebDASC: a web-based dietary assessment software for 8–11-year-old Danish children A. Biltoft-Jensen,* E. Trolle,* T. Christensen,* N. Islam, L. F. Andersen,à S. Egenfeldt-Nielsen§ & I. Tetens* *Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark  USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA àDepartment of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway §Serious Games Interactive, Griffenfeldsgade 7A, Copenhagen N, Denmark Introduction Children’s lifestyle and behaviour have increasingly become a focus of research subsequent to obesity and other life-style related diseases beginning in childhood (Koplan et al., 2005). The OPUS Centre was established in 2009 to advance public health and to promote prevention among children. OPUS promoted the concept of the New Nordic Diet, which draws on sustainable food items such as whole grains, berries, herbs and plants that are native to the Nordic region (Meyer et al., 2010). These principles will be applied to the school lunch menus of selected public schools in a Danish school meal study. Valid and reliable dietary assessment methods are criti- cal for identifying the impact of children’s dietary habits on their health and weight status. To be sensitive to die- tary changes resulting from school interventions, dietary intake must be measured with a relatively high level of detail and using repeated measures. A dietary assessment method should be able to identify the type of foods con- sumed; weekday versus weekend patterns of consumption, Keywords food record, recall, technology-based dietary assessment. Correspondence A. Biltoft-Jensen, Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Mørkhøj Bygade 19, 2860 Søborg, Denmark. Tel.: +45 35887425 Fax: +45 33887119 E-mail: apbj@food.dtu.dk How to cite this article Biltoft-Jensen A., Trolle E., Christensen T., Islam N., Andersen L.F., Egenfeldt-Nielsen S. & Tetens I. (2014) WebDASC: a web-based dietary assessment software for 8–11-year-old Danish children. J Hum Nutr Diet. 27 (Suppl. 1), 43–53 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-277X.2012.01257.x Abstract Background: The present study describes the development and formative evalu- ation of the Web-based Dietary Assessment Software for Children (WebDASC). WebDASC is part of the OPUS project (‘Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet’) and was intended to measure dietary change resulting from a school-based intervention. Methods: WebDASC was developed as a self-administered tool that could be used by 8–11-year-old children with or without parent’s aid. The development of WebDASC followed a prototyping approach: focus groups, informal inter- views, literature review, and usability tests preceded its release. Special consid- eration was given to age-appropriate design issues. Results: In WebDASC an animated armadillo guides respondents through six daily eating occasions and helps them report foods and beverages previously consumed. A database of 1300 food items is available either through category browse or free text search, aided by a spell check application. A type-in format is available for foods not otherwise found through category browse or text search. Amount consumed is estimated by selecting the closest portion size among four different digital images. WebDASC includes internal checks for frequently forgotten foods, and the following features to create motivation: a food-meter displaying cumulative weight of foods reported, a most popular food ranking, and a computer game with a high score list. Conclusions: WebDASC was developed as an intuitive, cost-effective, and engag- ing method to collect detailed dietary data from 8- to 11-year-old children. Preliminary testing demonstrated that it was well accepted among children. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2012 The Authors Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2012 The British Dietetic Association Ltd. 43