From Smartphones to Smart Habits

Smartphones place the power of health management in our hands. Smartphones provide everyday people with the tools they need to spearhead their own wellbeing. While the concept of using technology to better one’s health is nothing new, the dynamism of devices has improved radically since the development of health-focused mobile applications. Such apps as Map My Walk Pedometer, MyFitnessPal, Meal Snap, and Fooducate all empower smartphone users to change their behaviors and regulate their unique health conditions.

Employing technology to assist in health-management initiatives has been around for years. Many people credit our third United States President, Thomas Jefferson, with the invention of the pedometer. Known as the Tomish Meter, the device worked on the mechanical process of a pendulum swing. Now, apps like Map My Walk Pedometer enable smartphone users to track their daily activities, including walking, running, or cycling, with far more convenience than a pendulum.

Pedometers are just the tip of the health-focused mobile app iceberg. Advanced apps like MyFitnessPal have even more diversified functionality. While the app primarily serves as a fitness journal, it also contains a vast food database for calorie counting purposes, a workout database for deducting consumed calories, a community discussion board for encouragement from friends, a progress chart, and more. Because numerous medical studies have proved that keeping a food journal increases the likelihood of weight loss success, MyFitnessPal, and others like it, can be powerful tools to manage healthy living.

Fairly new to the mobile app market is a product called Meal Snap. Meal Snap eliminates much of the hassle associated with counting calories. By taking a picture of the soon-to-be-consumed meal, Meal Snap automatically calculates the meal’s nutrition breakdown, enabling the user to better track their diet on-the-go, at a restaurant, or even in the comfort of home.

Last on our list of innovative, health-focused apps is Fooducate. Unlike the other apps described, Fooducate does not track anything. Its main purpose is rating common grocery store food items based on an algorithm developed by scientists, dieticians, and parents. It provides the user with a list of healthier alternatives. Products like Natural Jif Creamy Peanut Butter can receive a grade on a scale of A-D as well as receive a “like” rating from users, represented as a percentage. Similar to MyFitnessPal, an extensive food database powers this app, which makes its value to parents substantial as they try to navigate grocery store aisles.

If we couple the fact that society is far more health conscience than ever with the ever-rising popularity of smartphones, it’s reasonable to believe that health-focused apps (whether native or web-based) are here to stay. As a result, people, now more than ever, have the power of health management in their hands, strapped to their arms, and plugged into their ears.