An app to help those who are trying to track their daily calorie intake.
| MyPlate Calorie Tracker |
By Livestrong |
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Features
- Goal setting
- Food diary
- Tracking energy and nutrient intake
- Energy requirement calculator
- Reminders
- Graphs and reporting
- App community
Get the app:
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| Country of origin |
USA |
| Clinical review |
Read a clinical review of this app.
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| User reviews |
Have you used this app? Tell us what you think of it.
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| Security and privacy |
Does the app:
- collect medical information? Yes (Weight, height, date of birth, etc)
- require a login? Yes - Facebook or email
- have password protection? Password required for initial sign up but not when reopening app
- have a privacy policy? Yes
- require internet access? Yes
Read more safety tips around health apps. |
| Cost |
- Free: basic version
- Paid upgrade: option to upgrade to GOLD
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| Advertisements |
- Basic version: contains ads, which may vary from user to user.
- Paid upgrade (GOLD) is ad free.
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What does the app do?
MyPlate is a mobile phone app which supports you to record food consumed. The primary aim of the app is to monitor energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates intake as well as a limited number of micronutrients and compare this to energy burnt by exercise.
After entering information such as height and weight, users are asked to select their daily calorie goal – easy, moderate or challenging, or a custom option. Each of these promises weight loss. The app gives the amount of weight you can lose per week and the expected number of weeks by which you can attain this goal.
Using the food diary users input what they consumed for each meal. The app then calculates the calories, and protein, fat and carbohydrate content of that meal and gives you an idea of the remining calories you have for that day.
Most of the features are available with the paid upgrade for example, users can track the calories they burn by connecting with Google Fit.
For the complete app description, go to the app website, Google Play, App Store or, for a more detailed review, see Reviews.
| PROS |
CONS |
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✔ Links with Google Fit.
✔ Prompts for user to input data.
✔ Shows breakdown of energy and macronutrient consumption through the day.
✔ Barcode scanning (although limited use in New Zealand).
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✘ Uses NutritionIX food database, which is from America and Canada food supply.
✘ Data entry becomes monotonous.
✘ Data entry is time consuming.
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Review details
Date of review: October 2022
Platform reviewed: Android
Version: 3.5.3
| App developer |
| If you are the developer and would like to provide updated information about this app, please email the app library manager at applibrary@healthnavigator.org.nz. |
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Clinical review
Reviewer: Frances Arenhold, Registered Dietitian
Date of review: October 2022
Platform: Android
Version: 3.5.3
Comment: For this review, the basic version was assessed. MyPlate Calorie Tracker app supports users to keep track of their food consumption for each meal and for the day. The primary aim of the app is to monitor energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates intake as well as a limited number of micronutrients and compare this to energy burnt by exercise. Additional features of the app allow weight and exercise monitoring, connecting with other users through community chat and an optional of upgrade to GOLD. Users can search for the food, drink consumed, allocate an amount and link this to a main meal or snack. Users can also track type and amount of exercise and record your weight.
Through monitoring food intake, weight and exercise, users may gain an understanding of energy consumption, areas of their diet which may need to be rebalanced or insights into their daily habits.
MyPlate Calorie Counter is best used under the supervision of a dietitian or health professional. If used in isolation it still has benefit for a knowledgeable consumer with an understanding of appropriate energy requirements and building awareness of food habits.
Overall, this app would be useful for people who are wanting to gain a greater awareness of their food consumption patterns and total energy and macronutrient intakes. Accuracy of the information is dependent on the users entry habits.
Safety concerns: The app provides limited support strategies for weight loss and emphasises the concept of energy in and energy out. This simplistic view of food, exercise and weight may reinforce unhealthy or unsustainable dieting behaviours impacting negatively on the long term weight loss for users. There is a wide range of conversation threads in the Community which may help or hinder some user's success with their goals.
New Zealand relevance: Yes. The app is relevant for a New Zealand audience if used on a short term basis to grow an awareness of their food consumption behaviours. However, The NutritionIX food database used in this app is based on mainly from America and Canada. Variations in food composition are likely but if used just to identify food consumption patterns it will still build awareness in users.
