Introduction
The smartphone has taken the world by storm. It allows users to communicate with friends, to take pictures, and to access a vast amount of information via the internet. This technology has become essential to our identity. However, is causing users to become increasingly sedentary. Some believe that weight gain has become inevitable in our technology-dependent world, but it many believe it will also provide a solution. Promising studies have shown that the smartphone is among the most valuable weapons in our fight against obesity. Smartphone Applications and Childhood Obesity
According to Altamimi, Skinner and Nesbitt (2015), childhood obesity is on the rise. In fact, it had risen by a startling 11% between 1980 and 2012.
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However, the modern world has made body weight increasingly difficult to control. The average American eats out 4 or more times a week, and many of these meals don’t include nutritional information. This is why “food tracking” applications on smartphones have become essential. Okumas and Bilihan (2013) suggest an application called “LoseIt!”, a smartphone app that allows users to track their calorie consumption over the course of a day. It offers nutritional facts for both generic foods, such as apples or chicken, as well as information from popular chain restaurants. They even allow users to be notified as daily fat, protein and carbohydrate goals are reached. While it does take self-discipline to log this information after each meal, these types of applications have been proven to be effective. Some applications like “LoseIt!” claim their users lose an average of 12 lbs. (Promoting healthy eating behavior via smartphone apps, para. 6) As a bonus, Okumus and Bilgihan go on to say that as these applications become more popular, this could also encourage chain restaurants to offer healthier