*Corresponding author email: tafese.bosha@gmail.com or tafesebo@uni-hohenheim.de Symbiosis Group Symbiosis www.symbiosisonlinepublishing.com ISSN Online: 2372-0980 Evaluating Nutrient Intake of Children Using an Instant Digital Dietary Assessment Tool in Sidama, Ethiopia Tafese Bosha 1,2* , Beruk Berhanu Desalegn 2,3 , Christine Lambert 4 , Simon Riedel 5 , Aberra Melesse 6 , Ute Gola 7 and Hans K Biesalski 8 1,3 Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Nutritional Sciences (140a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 2 College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, P.O. Box: 05, Hawassa, Ethiopia 4 Senior Scientist, Institute of Nutritional Sciences (140a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 5 Project Manager, Institute of Nutritional Sciences (140a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 6 Professor, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, P.O. Box: 05, Hawassa, Ethiopia 7 Physician Nutritional Medicine and Head of day med concept GmbH, Berlin 8 Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Medicine, former Director, Institute of Nutritional Sciences(140a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany Journal of Nutritional Health & Food Science Open Access Research Article Abstract Background: A digital dietary assessment tool called Calculator of Inadequate Micronutrient Intake for Ethiopia (CIMI-Ethiopia) was developed and validated. The present study aimed to determine acceptance and speed of CIMI-Ethiopia, and assess nutrient intake of children using CIMI in Sidama, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 80 mother-child pairs (MCP). The dietary intake data was collected by the CIMI-Ethiopia app on tablet. With CIMI-Ethiopia, the amounts of specific food groups consumed in the last 24 hours were asked. In order to determine acceptance and speed of CIMI-Ethiopia, the mothers were interviewed the amount of individual food items consumed on the same day through a classical 24-h dietary recall (24HR). Data about acceptance of CIMI-Ethiopia was obtained from the data collectors, and the mothers. Results: CIMI-Ethiopia reduced the data collection time by 25% compared with the conventional 24HR, and automatically provided nutrient intake results directly after interview. The device was selected by two-third of the study participant mothers over a conventional 24HR dietary assessment method. CIMI-Ethiopia identified that over quarter of children had inadequate intakes of zinc and vitamin A, while 100% inadequate vitamin B12. Moreover, >50% of them suffered from low dietary energy, and 10% low protein intake. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that CIMI-Ethiopia is well-accepted for dietary assessment. It also showed that CIMI-Ethiopia decreases time required for dietary data collection in field, and provides instant nutrient intake results. Also, it has been found that there is a possibility that all children in the study area could have an inadequate vitamin B12 intake. Keywords: Acceptance; children; CIMI-Ethiopia; inadequate nutrient intake; rural Ethiopia; Sidama Abbreviations: CIMI-Ethiopia - calculator of inadequate micronutrient intake for Ethiopia; MCP - mother-child pairs; WHO - World Health Organization; FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization, UNU - United Nations University Received: 6 September, 2019; Accepted: 25 October, 2019; Published: 5 November, 2019 *Corresponding author: Tafese Bosha, Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Nutritional Sciences (140a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, College of Agriculture, Hawassa University, P.O.Box: 05, Hawassa, Ethiopia, Tel: +251-931-52-9578, E-mail: tafese.bosha@gmail.com or tafesebo@ uni-hohenheim.de Background Young children appear in the category of population segment most vulnerable to micronutrient malnutrition [1]. For this, the reason is an increased nutritional requirement for their growth and development [2]. The deficiencies of iron, vitamin A, zinc and iodine are the four most widespread forms of micronutrient malnutrition worldwide [3]. However, iodine is not emphasized in this paper as CIMI-Ethiopia doesn’t compute it from diet. Of the rest three, vitamin A deficiency alone contributes 5.3% to the global disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in children under-5, while zinc and iron deficiencies 3.8% and 0.5%, respectively [4]. Moreover, Micronutrient Deficiencies (MND) increase the risk of dying, and contribute to impaired mental and physical development [1]. In Ethiopia, the deficiencies of iron, zinc, and vitamin A are amongst the well-known public health problems [5-7]. Limited studies sampled pregnant mothers from the current study zone identified that the deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc are public