Back

Scientific Basis of EATracker

This background document provides users and health professionals with details about EATracker, the food and activity databases, the source of nutrition and activity recommendations, and their interpretation.

Food List & Nutrient Database

The list of foods included in EATracker is adapted from "Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods", Health Canada, 1999.

The food list expanded in 2006 to include additional foods requested by users and to broaden the range of multicultural food choices.

The nutrient data for each food item is from the "Canadian Nutrient File", Health Canada, 2005.

The serving size for each food is based on the Food Guide Servings used in Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide where applicable, Health Canada, 2007 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php

The nutrition recommendations are based on the Dietary Reference Intakes, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences 2001-2004 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/reference/table/index_e.html

Food Selection

Food items are searchable by the full or partial name of the food e.g. chicken leg, cream cheese, bread stick.. The search results provides a scrollable list of foods containing that food name.

When entering the quantity of a food or beverage consumed, the user can enter partial portion sizes. For example, if you eat a half of a muffin, enter 0.5 for the quantity consumed. Users are prompted not to forget beverages, snacks, oils and fats, and vitamin supplements. Search tips and advice for what to do if user can't provide a food are provided.

What if I can't find an item?

If a food cannot be found,

If a food cannot be found, you may need to choose an alternative food item that is the most similar to the item you are looking for (e.g. if you are looking for "beans, black, canned" choose "beans, black, boiled" instead).

Recommended number of Food Guide Servings

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide (Health Canada in 2007) recommends a certain number of "Food Guide Servings" depending on sex and age (see Daily Food Intake Pattern). The user's intake of foods is compared to the age specific recommended number of Food Guide Servings.

Daily Food Intake Pattern as outlined by Canada's Food Guide

Males 2-3y 4-8y 9-13y 14-18y 19-30y 31-50y 51-70 71+y
Vegetables and Fruit 4 5 6 8 10 8 7 7
Grain Products 3 4 6 7 8 8 7 7
Milk and Alternatives 2 2 3-4 3-4 2 2 3 3
Meat and Alternatives 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3

Females 2-3y 4-8y 9-13y 14-18y 19-30y 31-50y 51-70 71+y
Vegetables and Fruit 4 5 6 7 8 7 7 7
Grain Products 3 4 6 6 7 6 6 6
Milk and Alternatives 2 2 3-4 3-4 2 2 3 3
Meat and Alternatives 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2

The food database calculates the number of Food Guide Servings for each food that is in a Food Group. The total number of Food Guide Servings are tallied and rounded to 2 decimal places. Foods that are not part of a food group (with the exception of water, vinegar, spices, and herbs) are assigned a 1 serving for each of the common serving size units stated in EATracker. These foods are also tallied to show the user's intake of foods or beverages not in a food group.

Foods and Beverages to Limit

Canada's Food Guide recommends that consumers limit foods and beverages that are high in calories, fat, sugar or salt (sodium). This includes foods such as cakes, pastries, cookies, granola bars, muffins, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen desserts, chocolate, candies, French fries, potato chips, nachos, and other salty snacks, fruit flavoured drinks, soft drinks, sports and energy drinks, sweetened hot or cold drinks and alcohol. These foods are listed in common serving sizes in EATracker.

Energy & Nutrient Recommendations:

EATracker is appropriate for individuals 14 years and older and thus nutrient data feedback is provided for male and female teens and adults, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Energy

Energy (kcal) is reported as actual intake (based on total calories consumed) and is compared to Estimated Energy Requirements (EER) based on age, weight, and activity level.

The Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) is defined as the dietary energy intake that is predicted to maintain energy balance in a healthy adult of a defined age, gender, weight, height, and level of physical activity consistent with good health.

The Estimated Energy Requirements (EERs) equations are from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Dietary Reference Intakes macronutrients report (2002). These equations provide an estimate of energy requirement. Relative body weight (i.e. loss, stable, gain) is the preferred indicator of energy adequacy.

Equations to estimate energy requirement

Boys 14 -18 years 88.5 - (61.9 x age [yr]) + PA x (26.7 x weight [kg] +903 x height [m]) + 25
Males 19 years and older 662 - (9.53 x age [y]) + PA x (15.91 x weight [kg] + 539.6 x height [m])
Girls 14 - 18 years 135.3 - (30.8 x age [yr]) + PA x (10 x weight [kg] +934 x height [m]) +25
Women 19 years and older 354 - (6.91 x age [y]) + PA x (9.36 x weight [kg] + 726 x height [m])
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding: girls 14 to 18 years First trimester - same as teen female EER
2nd trimester - teen female EER + 340 calories*
3rd trimester - teen female EER + 452 calories
Breastfeeding - teen female EER + 330 calories
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding: women 19 years and older First trimester - same as adult female EER
2nd trimester - adult female EER + 340 calories*
3rd trimester - adult female EER + 452 calories
Breastfeeding - adult female EER + 330 calories

* The 2nd trimester EER was used in EATracker for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The following Physical Activity Coefficients (PA values) are to be used in the EER equations.

Physical Activity Coefficients (PA values) for use in EER equations

  Sedentary
(PAL 1.0-1.39)		 Low Active
(PAL 1.4-1.59)		 Active
(PAL 1.6-1.89)		 Very Active
(PAL 1.9-2.5)
  Typical daily living activities (e.g., household tasks, walking to the bus) Typical daily living activities PLUS 30 - 60 minutes of daily moderate activity (ex. walking at 5-7 km/h) Typical daily living activities PLUS At least 60 minutes of daily moderate activity Typical daily living activities PLUS At least 60 minutes of daily moderate activity PLUS An additional 60 minutes of vigorous activity or 120 minutes of moderate activity
Boys
3 - 18 y		 1.00 1.13 1.26 1.42
Girls
3 - 18 y		 1.00 1.16 1.31 1.56
Men
18 y +		 1.00 1.11 1.25 1.48
Women
18 y +		 1.00 1.12 1.27 1.45

Source: Dietary Reference Intakes Tables
ISBN: 0-662-41134-X
Cat. No.: H44-87/2005E-HTML
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/reference/table/index_e.html

Protein, Fat and Carbohydrate

Protein, fat and carbohydrate are reported as total intake (grams), as a percentage of total calories, and then are compared to the recommended range defined in Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Protein and Amino Acids (Macronutrients), National Academy of Sciences, 2002.

Protein: Recommended range 10 - 35% of total calories

Fat: Recommended Range 20 - 35% of total calories for adults and 25-35% of total calories for 14 to 18 year olds.

Carbohydrate: Recommended range 45-65% of total calories.

Percentage of total energy (calories) coming from protein, fat and carbohydrates were calculated as follows:

% of calories coming from fat = grams of fat x 9 kcal/g divided by total energy (kcal) x 100

For example, if the user ate 60 grams of fat and 1800 kcal this is how you would calculate percentage of calories coming from fat:

(60 g fat x 9 kcal) divided by 1800 x 100 = 30 % of calories coming from fat (rounded to nearest whole number)

% of calories coming from carbohydrate = grams of carbohydrate x 4 kcal/g divided by total energy (kcal) x 100

For example, if the user ate 200 grams of carbohydrate and 1800 kcal this is how you would calculate percentage of calories coming from carbohydrate:

200 g carbohydrate x 4 kcal divided by 1800 kcal x 100 = 44 % of calories coming from carbohydrate (rounded to nearest whole number).

% of calories coming from protein = grams of protein x 4 kcal/g divided by total energy (kcal) x 100

For example, if the user ate 100 grams of protein and 1800 kcal, this is how you calculate percentage of calories coming from protein:

100 g protein x 4 kcal divided by 1800 x 100 = 22 % of calories coming from protein (rounded to nearest whole number)

% of calories coming from alcohol = grams of alcohol x 7 kcal/g divided by total energy (kcal) x 100

Alcohol is not displayed in the EATracker report but the kcalories contributed are included in the total.

Fibre, Vitamins and Minerals

EATracker results are reported for the following nutrients as total intake and as percent of Daily Recommended Intake

Source of Nutrient Recommendations:

The vitamin and minerals recommendations are from Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Recommended Intakes for Individuals, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 2001. Vitamins and minerals include 1 decimal point and the % Recommended Daily Intake is rounded to the nearest whole number.

Fibre recommendations are from Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Protein and Amino Acids (Macronutrients), National Academy of Sciences, 2002. Fibre as total intake is rounded to the nearest whole number.

The sodium and potassium recommendations are from Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chlorine, and Sulfate, National Academy of Sciences, 2004. Values for sodium and potassium are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Percentage of Recommended Daily Intake for vitamins, minerals and fibre were calculated as follows:

The total intake of particular nutrient was divided by the Recommended Daily Intake and multiplied by 100 to get percentage of Recommended Daily Intake.

For example, if a 29 year old female consumed a total of 300 mg of calcium and the Recommended Daily Intake is 1000 mg/day: 300 divided by 1000 mg x 100 = 30 % of the Recommended Daily Intake.

Supplement data was sourced from the Compendium of Self-Care Products The Canadian Reference on OTCs, Canadian Pharmacists Association, 2002 with additional new data from pharmaceutical websites. Conversions were made to nutrient data to match the Dietary Reference Intake units.

Activity Database & Recommendations

Physical activities are searchable by name. Users can also search activities by categories - low effort, moderate effort and high effort. The list of activities is based on research that identified common activities that 90% of Americans do daily (Dong L, Block G, Mandel S. Activities Contributing to Total Energy Expenditure in the United States: Results from the NHAPS Study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2004 Feb 12;1(1):4). This list has been adapted to apply to the Canadian population and includes activities recommended by Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/paguide/index.html). Search tips and advice for what to do if user can't find an activity are provided.

What if I can't find an item?

If an activity cannot be found, try simplifying your search by searching for one word or browse by category (e.g. if you can't find "Nordic skiing" try "skiing"). You should also check the spelling of the activity (e.g. bicycling not cycling is included in the database). If an activity cannot be found, you may need to choose an activity that is the most similar to the activity that you are looking for (e.g. if you are looking for "carpentry" choose "housework - home repair" instead).

Activity Categories & Recommendations for "Time spent in activities of different intensities"

The activities were categorized into 3 different activity levels based on the number of METs** each activity provides and the duration for each category recommended by Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living (shown in brackets below). The total time the user spends in minutes for each activity is totaled for each day.

**A MET is considered a resting metabolic rate obtained during quiet sitting. Activities are listed according to METS ranging from 1 MET for sleeping to 16 METs for running at 12 mph (6 min per mile). The METs were derived from the "Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities" by Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Whitt MC, Irwin ML, Swartz AM, Strath SJ, O'Brien WL, Bassett DR Jr, Schmitz KH, Emplaincourt PO, Jacobs DR Jr, Leon AS. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Sep;32(9 Suppl):S498-504.

Personalized feedback rating - Adults 19+

The time spent in activities was compared to Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/paguide/index.html. This guide recommends adults get 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity each day.

If < 30 minutes total in moderate + high effort activities AND < 60 minutes total in low effort activities.
Your day could be more active.

If >= 60 minutes total in low effort activities AND 0 minutes in moderate plus high effort activities.
Good effort! You are moving but may need to increase the intensity of your activity.

If >= 30 minutes total in moderate plus high effort activities OR If >= 60 minutes total of low + moderate + high intensity activities
Congratulations for being active today!

Personalized Feedback Rating - Youth 14 to 18yr

The time spent in activities was compared to Canada's Physical Activity Guide for Youth www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/paguide/index.html. This guide recommends youth aim for 60 minutes of moderate physical activity and 30 minutes of vigorous activity each day.

If < 60 minutes total in moderate + high effort activities AND < 60 minutes total in low effort activities.
Your day could be more active.

If >= 60 minutes total in low effort activities AND 0 minutes in moderate plus high effort activities.
Good effort! You are moving but need to increase the intensity of your activity.

If >= 60 minutes total in moderate plus high effort activities
Congratulations for being active today!