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Food diary

Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025

Definition

A food diary is a personal record where individuals track their food and beverage intake over a specific period. This tool helps people understand their eating habits, make informed dietary choices, and identify patterns that may affect their energy balance and nutritional health.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

  1. Food diaries can help identify excessive caloric intake, which can lead to weight gain if not balanced with physical activity.
  2. Maintaining a food diary encourages mindfulness around food choices, promoting healthier eating habits over time.
  3. Food diaries are often used in weight management programs, as they provide insights into dietary patterns that can be modified for better health outcomes.
  4. Some food diaries include sections for noting feelings or hunger levels, which can help individuals recognize emotional eating triggers.
  5. Digital apps have made food journaling more accessible, allowing users to easily log meals and track nutritional information on-the-go.

Review Questions

  • How does keeping a food diary contribute to understanding energy balance?
    • Keeping a food diary allows individuals to track their caloric intake against their physical activity levels. By recording what they eat and drink, they can calculate their total caloric consumption and compare it to the calories burned through daily activities. This process helps in recognizing whether they are in a state of caloric surplus or deficit, which is crucial for managing body weight and overall health.
  • Discuss the benefits of using a food diary in relation to dietary guidelines and MyPlate recommendations.
    • Using a food diary can significantly enhance adherence to dietary guidelines and the MyPlate framework. By logging meals, individuals can assess whether they are meeting recommended servings from each food group outlined in MyPlate. This practice encourages a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, helping individuals make adjustments based on their recorded data to align with healthy eating recommendations.
  • Evaluate the impact of digital food diaries on dietary behavior compared to traditional paper methods.
    • Digital food diaries offer several advantages over traditional paper methods, such as convenience, ease of tracking, and instant access to nutritional information. They often include features like barcode scanning, meal suggestions, and reminders that help users maintain consistency in logging their meals. This technology can lead to improved engagement with dietary tracking and may result in better behavior change outcomes due to the interactive nature of apps compared to manual logging on paper.