Technology might be to blame for growing obesity rates—think couch potatoes and hours of video gaming that doesn't involve jumping around with a Wii remote in your hand—but it could also help fight fat. Apps to track calories and weight loss or to "encourage" folks to lose weight have been around for a while (witness the parade of cute but not-so-sophisticated apps on the government-backed Apps for Healthy Kids. But healthcare professionals and researchers are working to take health and fitness apps to new levels—adding more sophisticated analytic capabilities and better functionality but also making them easier to use.
Crunching the nutrition numbers
Everyone knows you should read nutrition labels. And some of us even do. But a quick glance at the number of calories and the grams of fat doesn't tell the whole story. You also have to look at carbs, protein, fiber, cholesterol, and sodium levels. And—perhaps trickiest of all—you have to determine the ratio of really bad fats to the slightly less bad fats (plus you have to remember which ones are the really bad fats and which ones are the slightly less bad fats). Then there's ingredient lists, packaging claims that may or may not be misleading … Well, you get the point.
Australia's Victoria University created a weight loss app that helps interpret nutrition information labels. Shoppers, all with a Body Mass Index greater than 25, used their smartphones to scan GS1 bar codes on breads, breakfast cereals, and biscuits. They received a simple 'traffic-light' rating for each product, based on National Heart Foundation guidelines.
Over four weeks, the test subjects completed weekly 3-day food diaries followed by a trial stage where they scanned products, purchased products and retained their shopping dockets.
Researchers compiled a database with participating consumers' personalized characteristics and combined product data of breads, breakfast cereals, and other carbs, including their description, serving sizes, and sodium and saturated fat content and displayed it on the users' phone.
Although most participants didn't change their buying habits (in part because they were still buying food for their families), the study did have some positive results. Subjects reported that the application made them more aware of their diet and 40% changed their purchase decisions based on the information provided.
The study established that while technology could make information accessible, education and motivational tools are needed to encourage participants to change their overall purchasing and eating habits, according to the study's authors.
The only problem? The users wanted more data. More than 90% said the system would be more useful if more products were included.
App developers are working fast to build those databases. One example: Quickka Calories PRO, which offers nutritional information for more than 20,000 food items, delivering the user with a list of calories, carbs, fats, fiber, protein, and salt content. It can also do so via barcode scan for more than 9,000 items.
Salt Lake City, UT–based Intermountain Healthcare recently announced it has developed a free app for children and teens to help them make good nutrition and fitness choices.
The new application is part of Intermountain's LiVe campaign which reaches out to parents and children about the importance of increasing physical activity and adopting healthier eating habits to prevent obesity.
The LiVe application makes it easier to set fitness and healthy eating goals—but it's also kid-friendly and has a sense of fun. For example, the app uses a roulette function to help you generate ideas to increase your physical activity. Select what type of activity you're interested in—inside games, outside games, night games—shake the phone, and an activity is suggested.
Users can also track progress toward their weight loss goals, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, and increasing physical activity.
Researchers at San Francisco State University are testing how effective smartphones can be in helping people maintain a healthy lifestyle and decrease the risks from obesity. They developed an app that tracks the food and portions patients eat, calculates calories burned during exercise, and offers text messaging with health coaches.
The study subjects include overweight or obese youth at San Francisco General Hospital's Teen Clinic and focus groups consisting of SF State students.
A consumer version of the food tracking app is available online—a more sophisticated app will be available after the two-year study is complete. But even that version has lots of functions—it has programs on smoking, hypertension, and pregnancy. Patients can track medications, mood, even the quality of their sleep. And diabetics can track glucose levels, carbs, and meal frequency. It also uses elements of social media—allowing users to share their numbers with others, for example.
"So much of our health system is focused on the clinician and the doctor telling the patient what to do, but by using this technology it really centers all the decision making and puts the information in the patient's hands," said one of the researchers, Katherine Kim, a biology professor in residence at SF State's Health Equity Institute. "They get to decide what they do with it."
Christina Sabee, assistant professor of communication studies at SF State who's work focuses primarily on doctor-patient communication, believes that the use of technology has the potential to improve the entire healthcare system.
"Technology is something that we use every day, and to ignore it and try to get people to not use it seems counterintuitive," Sabee said.