Calorie Counter
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A calorie counter is a software application or device that can be used to record and evaluate a person's daily diet in terms of nutritional values such as calories, macronutrients and micronutrients.[1][2] Body weight and physical activity may also be monitored.[1] 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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 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 Check
|pmc=value (help). 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 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 34427188 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Beilenson, Suzanne. The Pocket Calorie Counter. Peter Pauper Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4413-0519-0. Search this book on
- ↑ Heslin, Jo-Ann; Nolan, Karen J. (2009-12-29). The Calorie Counter, 5th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-6667-0. Search this book on
- ↑ "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 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 38375882 Check|pmid=value (help). Retrieved 2024-06-25. Unknown parameter|pmc-embargo-date=ignored (help)
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