The main diet survey (called the ASA24) will ask you to report what you ate and drank over the previous day.  This is the survey you will be asked to complete a few times over the year.  It will ask you to report all foods and drinks for your meals and snacks, as well as any supplements (e.g., vitamins), as well as what time you ate/drank, where you consumed them (e.g., home, restaurant), and a few other questions.  The survey may also ask you a few extra questions to help prompt reporting of things people sometimes forget, like adding toppings to sandwiches and salads.   

The main activity survey (called the ACT24) will ask you to report what activities you did over the previous day.  This is the other survey you will be asked to complete a few times over the year (in addition to the diet one described above).  It will ask you to choose activities that reflect what you did for all hours of your day, such as sleeping, getting ready in the morning, getting to work, and so on.  It will ask you some additional questions depending on the activity, such as how much of the activity was spent sitting vs. standing, and the level of exertion (e.g., for activities like sports).   

The last set of diet and activity surveys will ask you about your diet and activities for the past year.  The diet survey (called the CDHQ-III) will ask you how often you ate or drank certain foods and drinks, and how much you usually ate/drank them.  The activity survey (called the PYTPAQ) will ask you to report the activities you engaged in (e.g., work, snowshoeing, gardening), how often and for how long you did the activities (e.g., gardening for 4h per day, 1 day per week in the summer, for 4 months), and the level of exertion (e.g.,  didn’t increase your heart rate, or caused your heart rate to increase a lot). 

Your diet and daily activities can vary day to day and over the course of the year.  There are also some things that we eat and do infrequently or seasonally, such as having barbecues and working in the garden in the summer or skiing and shovelling snow in the winter.  By asking you to report what you eat and drink and your activities at different times and in different ways, we can capture various types of information and get a more complete picture of your diet and the activities you engage in. 

Think of it like blood pressure: one reading tells you little, multiple readings show your true pattern.

We know there are many surveys to fill out, so we’ve tried to make the process as simple as possible.  

• When it’s time to participate, you’ll receive an email inviting you to log into your ATP Participant Portal.  

• Once logged into the portal, you’ll find personalized links to your diet and activity surveys. 

• No need to enter usernames or passwords after this – just click on the survey link, and you’ll be logged in automatically. 

• You can begin entering your information right away. 

• The initial health and lifestyle survey will take up to ~40 minutes. 

• Each of the diet and activity surveys asking you to report what you ate/drank and your activities for the previous day will take 20-40 minutes.  The time it takes will depend on how many things you have to report.  The surveys will likely get easier to complete after the first one, as you get more familiar with the survey tools. 

• The final set of diet and activity surveys that ask you about what you usually eat and drink and your activities over the past year will each take 45-60 minutes to complete – this is because the surveys are trying to capture a much longer timeframe, but will help fill important gaps in information that the past-day surveys might’ve missed. 

Yes, if you start a survey, you can save your progress and return to it by clicking on the same link in your ATP Participant Portal.  However, be aware that once you start your 24-hour recalls you have until 8:00am the next day to complete them; after that, they will close and you will have to start a new record.  Therefore, we highly recommend that once you start any of the surveys, you try to complete it in one sitting. 

To get solutions to real life problems, we need real data – not “perfect” data.  Your unusual days are just as valuable as your usual days – this is the real-world data that is greatly needed for research!  We encourage you to report your diet and activity as accurately and authentically as you can.  This study is designed to account for variations in your routine.  You will have the opportunity to report your diet and activities a few times over the course of the year.  This will help provide a more accurate picture for your overall routine, even if you had an unusual day. 

For the surveys about your previous day, don’t worry if you weren’t able to complete one in time – since we are asking you to complete these a few times over the year, you can just wait for your next invitation.  If you missed one of the other surveys and want to complete it, reach out and we’ll figure out a plan.  Please email us at tomorrow@cancercarealberta.ca or call us at our toll-free number 1-877-919-9292.  Our call centre hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4:00pm.

Yes, you can, but we strongly encourage you to use a larger device.  The surveys are optimized for larger devices like a desktop or laptop computer, so they work better on those versus a mobile device (like phone or tablet).