Draft:Calorie Counter

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Instructions · What links here · Calorie Counter (talk: + · bio) · (log) · Copyvios report · reFill · Citation Bot · (Search: Google, Bing, Wikipedia) · Submitted 3 days ago by PostfixNotation (talk: D · +) · Last edited 3 days ago by Citation bot

Calorie counters^[1] (or food diaries^[2]) are programs that allow users to record and evaluate their daily diet in terms of nutritional values such as calories, macronutrients and often micronutrients. Body weight and physical activity^[1] are also usually monitored. Their use is intended to help reduce body weight^[1]^[3]^[4].

Development

Manual "calorie counting" is based on nutritional calorie tables in book form^[5]^[6] and on the nutritional information on product packaging. With the advent of smartphones, "calorie counter" apps have simplified the process. The smartphone camera captures the barcode of a product and the nutritional information is provided from a database.

Features

The user records every food eaten, including the quantity, in order to determine their total calories and nutrient intake and compare them with their target. They can enter their current body weight into the app every few days and later draw conclusions about the effectiveness of their diet. To record calorie consumption, the apps can connect to the interfaces of third-party fitness trackers, access the phone's activity sensor or record activity manually^[1].

Privacy

Most calorie counter applications require a user account. Meal and body weight entries are stored on a server of the provider, personalized profiles are created with sensitive data that are at risk of unauthorized access^[7]. Applications without registration are more secure in this respect, but have no server-based data backup.

Available evidence

A Cochrane meta-analysis (2024) of 18 studies with a total of 2700 people showed that there was little or no change in participants' weight after two years. Effects on well-being and quality of life are low or non-existent. The apps performed just as well as personal coaching, "no app" or "usual care". However, the evidence is still very weak and a large number of studies have been announced or are ongoing^[8].

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Milliard, Sharlin (2019). "Designing Calorie Counter Smartphone Applications for Effective Weight Loss" (PDF). University of Central Florida. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
^ Eikey, Elizabeth V.; Booth, Kayla M.; Chen, Yunan; Zheng, Kai (2018-12-05). "The Use of General Health Apps Among Users with Specific Conditions: Why College Women with Disordered Eating Adopt Food Diary Apps". Amia ... Annual Symposium Proceedings. Amia Symposium: 1243–1252. PMC 6371267. PMID 30815166.
^ Harvey, Jean; Krukowski, Rebecca; Priest, Jeff; West, Delia (March 2019). "Log Often, Lose More: Electronic Dietary Self-Monitoring for Weight Loss". Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). 27 (3): 380–384. doi:10.1002/oby.22382. PMC 6647027. PMID 30801989.
^ Hahn, Samantha L.; Kaciroti, Niko; Eisenberg, Daniel; Weeks, Heidi M.; Bauer, Katherine W.; Sonneville, Kendrin R. (December 2021). "Introducing Dietary Self-Monitoring to Undergraduate Women via a Calorie Counting App Has No Effect on Mental Health or Health Behaviors: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial". Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 121 (12): 2377–2388. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2021.06.311. PMC 9109125. PMID 34427188.
^ Beilenson, Suzanne. The Pocket Calorie Counter. Peter Pauper Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4413-0519-0.
^ Heslin, Jo-Ann; Nolan, Karen J. (2009-12-29). The Calorie Counter, 5th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-6667-0.
^ "Hackers steal data of 150 million MyFitnessPal app users". The Guardian. 2018-03-30. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
^ Metzendorf, M. I.; Wieland, L. S.; Richter, B. (2024). "Smartphone apps for people with overweight or obesity". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024 (2): CD013591. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013591.pub2. PMC 10877670. PMID 38375882. Retrieved 2024-06-25.

Category:Software Category:Health Category:Fitness apps Category:Nutrition Category:Weight loss

[:0-1] Milliard, Sharlin (2019). "Designing Calorie Counter Smartphone Applications for Effective Weight Loss" (PDF). University of Central Florida. Retrieved 2024-05-27.

[2] Eikey, Elizabeth V.; Booth, Kayla M.; Chen, Yunan; Zheng, Kai (2018-12-05). "The Use of General Health Apps Among Users with Specific Conditions: Why College Women with Disordered Eating Adopt Food Diary Apps". Amia ... Annual Symposium Proceedings. Amia Symposium: 1243–1252. PMC 6371267. PMID 30815166.

[3] Harvey, Jean; Krukowski, Rebecca; Priest, Jeff; West, Delia (March 2019). "Log Often, Lose More: Electronic Dietary Self-Monitoring for Weight Loss". Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.). 27 (3): 380–384. doi:10.1002/oby.22382. PMC 6647027. PMID 30801989.

[4] Hahn, Samantha L.; Kaciroti, Niko; Eisenberg, Daniel; Weeks, Heidi M.; Bauer, Katherine W.; Sonneville, Kendrin R. (December 2021). "Introducing Dietary Self-Monitoring to Undergraduate Women via a Calorie Counting App Has No Effect on Mental Health or Health Behaviors: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial". Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 121 (12): 2377–2388. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2021.06.311. PMC 9109125. PMID 34427188.

[5] Beilenson, Suzanne. The Pocket Calorie Counter. Peter Pauper Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4413-0519-0.

[6] Heslin, Jo-Ann; Nolan, Karen J. (2009-12-29). The Calorie Counter, 5th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-6667-0.

[7] "Hackers steal data of 150 million MyFitnessPal app users". The Guardian. 2018-03-30. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-25.

[8] Metzendorf, M. I.; Wieland, L. S.; Richter, B. (2024). "Smartphone apps for people with overweight or obesity". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024 (2): CD013591. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013591.pub2. PMC 10877670. PMID 38375882. Retrieved 2024-06-25.

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