Case Studies

Beginning with the first NASA expedition aboard the International Space Station, Block Dietary Data Systems and NutritionQuest have been there!

Nutrition is critical during long space flight missions. Loss of body weight is frequently observed, often accompanied by loss of muscle mass and bone. Other concerns include consumption of too little water, and of too much sodium and iron.

During space flight, it is critical that astronauts obtain enough calories to maintain body weight, enough protein to preserve muscle mass, enough calcium for bone health, and enough water. In earlier space flights before the International Space Station, astronauts lost weight during the mission, but there was no real-time way to counsel them about their nutrient intake during the mission. Consequently, NASA set about to test whether a simple, brief method could be developed that could provide real-time information about what crew members were eating.

Block Dietary Data Systems was approached to develop such a method. It was rigorously tested in a "chamber test", designed by Dr. Scott M. Smith of NASA's Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office. In the chamber test, volunteers remained in a closed environment resembling the Space Station for 60 and then 90 days. All food consumption was known, and closely resembled the food that would be provided on the Space Station. Multiple weighed five-day food records were obtained. This research is described at http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/ground/5.1Nutrition.pdf.

Following those successful tests, a Space Flight Food Frequency Questionnaire designed by Block Dietary Data Systems has flown with each successive International Space Station Expedition. A new questionnaire is developed for each Expedition, to take into account the specific foods that will be flown with that Expedition. Missions always include Russian as well as US foods, and these are incorporated into each Expedition questionnaire. The space food system is described at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83096main_food.pdf.

Astronauts complete the questionnaire once a week, electronically, to report what foods they have eaten during the previous week. The results are sent electronically to the ground, and mission specialists examine the data immediately so that they can recommend ways that the astronauts can improve their dietary intake. An example of the value of this approach is described in a journal article by Scott M. Smith in The Journal of Nutrition, 135:437-443, 2005. The article reports that for one astronaut, "Dietary counseling was provided for this subject after wk 5 because energy intake had been consistently low. At landing, this subject's weight was not substantially less than it was before the flight." We are proud and gratified that our questionnaires and services have had such a direct, tangible benefit to real people!

Nutrition prior to space flight is also carefully assessed by NASA. Extensive dietary and nutritional status tests are performed by NASA on astronauts embarking on space flight. One of these measures is the Block98 Food Frequency Questionnaire.