Various weight loss apps have been scored for usability in single-user studies, with apps generally receiving good to very good ratings of usability. Usability encompasses multiple dimensions of user interaction with an app, which includes ease of use, complexity, need for training and support, and willingness to continue use. In addition to the importance of accurate diet measures, usability is an important aspect of quality of diet-tracking apps. For example, a single user recording a 3-day diet in a study found that the accuracy in tracking energy intake among apps was only fair in terms of total calories and amounts of macro- and micronutrients compared with a gold standard nutrient coding and that there was large variability among apps. Yet, few studies have been conducted evaluating the accuracy of diet-tracking apps. Therefore, the ability for apps to accurately track food intakes may be useful for understanding the changing diet trends within certain populations, as well as diet patterns relevant to an individual’s health. Moreover, diet tracking may be particularly useful for those who are at risk of or who already need to manage specific diet-related health issues, such as a need to monitor carbohydrate intake for metabolic disease syndrome, sodium intake for hypertension, or food elimination for irritable bowel syndrome or allergies. Within the United States, shifts in portion sizes may be responsible for increased energy intake and obesity. For instance, shifts in diet toward greater intake of processed foods, meals outside of the home, and greater amounts of oil and sugar-added foods have been implicated as potential causes of the global obesity epidemic. Aside from tracking energy intake, other aspects of diet may be important to monitor. Given the current obesity epidemic within the United States and in many other countries around the world, there is a great need for effective theory-driven tools to help individuals manage weight. In past reviews of diet-related health apps, it was found that adoption of behavior change theory tended to be quite poor. However, it remains unclear how many of the current diet-tracking apps employ such features that are consistent with behavior change theory. Using a diet-tracking app may improve self-monitoring, goal setting, and knowledge and develop self-efficacy-all of which are key behavior change constructs. Tracking the consumption of certain foods and drinks may potentially help individuals achieve an improved understanding of their dietary patterns.
#Best diet trackers for mac for android#
Within this group of apps, diet-tracking apps are very popular, with some downloaded as much as 50 million times (based on MyFitnessPal for Android market, April 2017). These apps have the potential to facilitate tracking of health-related behaviors and weight management.
In 2017, a total of 325,000 mobile health (mHealth) apps were available in major app stores, and the number of users of mHealth apps will continue to rise in the upcoming years. Comparing the apps with the USDA reference for a 3-day diet, the average differences were 1.4% for calories, 1.0% for carbohydrates, 10.4% for protein, and −6.5% for fat.Ī large number of apps focused on health and fitness have emerged on the smartphone market. The exception to this was features related to the Reinforcement domain, which were correlated with less usability. The presence of behavior change domain features tended to be weakly correlated with greater usability, with R 2 ranging from 0 to. None of the apps allowed for tracking of emotional factors that may be associated with diet patterns. App features varied considerably, yet all of the apps had features consistent with Beliefs about Capabilities and thus have the potential to promote self-efficacy by helping individuals track their diet and progress toward goals.
Some variations in features were noted between Android and iOS versions of the same apps, mainly for MyDietCoach, which affected the SUS score.
Of the apps that were reviewed, LifeSum had the highest average SUS score of 89.2, whereas MyDietCoach had the lowest SUS score of 46.7.
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