MyFitnessPal Research Articles

Validity of the PortionSize application compared with that of MyFitnessPal for accurately estimating intake: a randomized crossover laboratory-based evaluation

BackgroundPortionSize offers real-time feedback on dietary intake, including intake of MyPlate food groups but requires further evaluation on a larger sample in a laboratory-based setting. MyFitnessPal (MFP) is a commonly used commercial dietary assessment application, and to our knowledge, no known studies have evaluated MFP in a laboratory setting. ObjectivesThe overall objective was to test the validity of PortionSize and MFP to accurately measure intake compared with that of weighed food (WB) and to compare error between applications. A secondary objective was to test usability, satisfaction, and user preference between applications. MethodsThis randomized crossover study was completed between February and October 2021. Participants (N = 43) used both applications to estimate intake in a laboratory setting. Participants were provided with a preweighed plated meal and plated leftovers. Two 1-sided t tests assessed equivalence (±21% bounds) between simulated intake from PortionSize and WB, and MFP and WB. The primary outcome was energy intake, and secondary outcome measures were portion size (in grams), food groups, and other nutrients. Differences in relative absolute error, usability, satisfaction, and user preference between applications were evaluated using dependent samples t tests. Cohen d assessed effect size. ResultsFor PortionSize, energy and portion size were underestimated by 13.3% and 14.0%, respectively, and were not equivalent to WB. For MFP, energy was overestimated by 7.0%, and equivalent to WB (P = 0.04). Relative absolute error for energy did not differ between applications. For PortionSize, Cohen d was small (<0.2) for fruits, grains, protein foods, and specific nutrients. No differences were seen with usability, and the only difference for satisfaction was that participants found it easier to use MFP to find foods consumed (P = 0.019), and participants preferred using MFP (P = 0.014). ConclusionsPortionSize requires further updates to improve energy estimates and usability but demonstrates clinical utility for tracking food group and nutrient intake. PortionSize did not outperform MFP for measuring energy intake. Clinical Trial RegistryThis trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04700904 (https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04700904).

Analysis of Energy Balance in Obese Healthcare Workers

Obesity is a global health challenge that seriously affects developing countries, including Indonesia. Although the determining factors of obesity are complex, energy balance and lifestyle play a very important role. Unbalanced dietary patterns and sedentary behavior are still the most important factors in the occurrence of obesity. Therefore, it is important to discover the energy balance calculated from energy intake and energy expenditure in obese patients. This study aimed to analyze the balance of energy intake and expenditure, body composition, and physical activity level in obese patients at Exercise Center IMERI FKUI. A cross-sectional study was held at Exercise Center IMERI FKUI. Study participants (patients) were screened by measuring body composition and obesity status was determined based on BMI data (≥25 kg/m2). The selected subjects were then administered to data collection on body composition using the MF-BIA instrument, energy intake using the MyFitnessPal (MFP) application, as well as energy expenditure and physical activity level using the IPAQ-SF tool. From a total of 12 patients with obesity at the Exercise Center, 11 (91.67%) patients had a negative energy balance and 1 (8.33%) patient had a positive energy balance during a 7-day period of data collection. A majority of the obese patients at the Exercise Center reported a negative energy balance.

Accuracy of Nutrient Intake Values From Four Popular Nutrition Tracking Apps

ObjectivesTo assess the accuracy of nutrient intake values from four popular nutrition tracking apps including, MyFitnessPal, MyNetDiary, SparkPeople, and Cronometer, compared to ESHA-Food Processor. MethodsOne-day food records were obtained from 30 students in an introductory nutrition course. After demonstrating inter-rater reliability (ICC > 0.90), food records were entered by two researchers into ESHA-Food Processor, MyFitnessPal (MFP), My Net Diary (MND), Spark People(SP), and Cronometer (CR) apps to determine nutrient intake values. Wilcoxon sign rank test and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data comparing the apps to ESHA. ResultsEnergy intake values were significantly lower for MFP (P = 0.002), MND (P = 0.002), SP (P = 0.003); but not for CR (P > 0.05) when compared to ESHA. Fat intake values were significantly lower for MFP (P = 0.003), MND (P = 0.003), SP (P = 0.006), but not CR (P = 0.249). Carbohydrate intake values were significantly lower for MFP (P = 0.005), MND (P = 0.002), SP (P = 0.004), and CR (P = 0.026) when compared to ESHA. There were no differences in protein or fiber intake values between any of the apps compared to ESHA (P > .05). Sodium intake values were lower for MFP (P < 0.001), MND (P = 0.014), and CR (P = 0.019) compared to ESHA, while SP did not estimate sodium intake. ConclusionsA majority of the nutrition tracking apps calculated lower energy values and lower intake values of multiple nutrients compared to ESHA-Food processor. Users of the popular nutrition tracking apps, including consumers, educators, and researchers, should be aware of the significant differences in nutrient intake calculations as energy and many nutrients could be under-reported. Funding SourcesNo funding was provided.

Self-Efficacy and Nutrition-Related Goal Achievement of MyFitnessPal Users.

Mobile health applications (apps) are increasing in popularity to assist in health behavior change and maintenance. Drawing from constructs outlined within the social cognitive theory by Bandura, we explored how frequently users of a popular health app achieved their health-related goals. Participants reportedly used the MyFitnessPal (MFP) app within the past year completed an online survey on how often they used MFP, their self-efficacy for healthy eating (SE-HE), and achievement of nutrition-related goals. Findings suggest that higher levels of SE-HE and greater use of MFP predicted greater goal achievement. One important finding was that greater use of MFP related to increased reports for goal achievement when SE-HE was lower but not when participants showed high level of SE-HE. The results from this study suggest that MFP may be the most helpful for those who find it more difficult to meet their nutrition-related goals.

Dietary assessment with the online platform MyFitnessPal: a reliable method?

AbstractA major challenge in dietary assessment is the manual pre-processing of dietary data. Digital food registration via online platforms that are coupled to large food databases can automate this process. The accuracy of such platforms depends on the quality of the associated food database. In this study we validated the database of MyFitnessPal (MFP) versus the Belgian food composition database Nubel.Fifty participants collected a 4-day dietary record using MFP at 2 time points, T1 and T2. Nutrient intake values extracted from MFP at T1 were used as training set to define a cut-off for each parameter (energy intake (EI), carbohydrates (CH), fat (F), protein (P), fibre (Fi), sugar (S), cholesterol (Ch) and sodium (So)) by optimising correlation with Nubel calculated values. Application of these criteria to the values extracted at T2 (n = 2826) resulted in rejection rate of 2.8%. The remaining values were correlated (Pearson or Spearman) with the Nubel calculated values. Fixed and proportional biases were traced using Bland-Altman analysis and impact on sample size was estimated from a power simulation.MFP demonstrated strong correlation with the Nubel database for EI (r = 0.95), CH (r = 0.90), F (r = 0.90), P (r = 0.88), Fi (r = 0.80) and S (r = 0.77), but weak correlations for Ch (ρ = 0.51) and So (ρ = 0.53); all p &lt; 0.001. Bland-Altman analysis showed no fixed bias between both methods, whereas a proportional bias was found for cholesterol. A practical implication is a loss of statistical power by 5–10% for EI and macronutrients compared to the Nubel database and the need to increase sample size accordingly.We conclude that dietary analysis with MFP is accurate and efficient for total energy intake, macronutrients, fibre and sugar, but not for cholesterol and sodium

My fitness pal usage in men: Associations with eating disorder symptoms and psychosocial impairment

My Fitness Pal (MFP) is a calorie-tracking smartphone application that is gaining popularity worldwide. Although MFP has the potential to be a cheap and efficient weight-loss tool, concerns that MFP could trigger, maintain, or exacerbate eating disorder symptoms have been raised. Preliminary research has documented associations between MFP use and eating disorder symptoms in women with eating disorders and in undergraduate students. However, whether these associations exist additionally in a male-only sample has not been tested. Thus, we aimed to estimate MFP usage and examine its association with eating disorder symptoms and psychosocial impairment in a male sample. Cross-sectional data were analysed from 122 male participants (Mage = 28.4, SD = 8.93) recruited primarily through fitness-related social media sites. Around half (56%) of the sample reported having used MFP. Nearly 40% of users perceived MFP as a factor contributing to disorder eating symptoms to some extent. MFP users reported significantly higher levels of attitudinal (dichotomous thinking, shape, weight, and eating concerns) and behavioural (binge eating, dietary restraint) eating disorder symptoms and psychosocial impairment than non-users. Effect sizes were large. MFP use also predicted unique variance in global attitudinal symptoms after controlling for eating disorder behaviours, impairment, and demographics. That nearly one-third of men perceived MFP as a factor contributing to their disordered eating highlights the possible utility of enquiring about the use of calorie-tracking apps when screening and assessing for eating disorder symptoms in men.

P20 - An M-Health Intervention to Improve Physical Activity and Monitoring Sugar-Sweetened-Beverages (SSB) in College Students

Objective: Determine the efficacy and the effectiveness of a mobile health (m-Health) intervention app on specific lifestyle behaviors. Target Audience: College students from Texas A&M University, aged 18–30 years old. Theory, Prior Research, Rationale: The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behavior (COM-B) framework hypothesizes that an interaction between three components (capability, opportunity, and motivation) influence behavior and can provide explanations for why a recommended behavior is not undertaken. In this trial, education, training, and modeling will be used to address the psychological capabilities and reflective motivation of the students, in order to increase walking behavior and improve specific life style behaviors. Description: MyFitnessPal (MFP) is one of the most popular publicly available apps for weight loss used. MFP incorporates elements of social cognitive theory, including self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback. Using the Pacer Pedometer app, the intervention group receives physical activity goals (10,000 step/day). The researcher will encourage this group to use the app to monitor their steps and obtain feedback. The intervention group will be given a primary goal of achieving the SSBs recommendation of (<=240 mL SSBs/d (<=8 floz SSB/d)). The researcher will encourage this group to use the app to monitor their SSBs intake and obtain feedback. Evaluation: Feedback and tracking of step counts and calories expended and daily caloric intake/ fluid ounces of SSB consumption will be assessed across the 4 time points. Weight status and body fat percentage will be obtained at the end of a 12-week of intervention. Self-efficacy will be assessed using (McAuley, Lox, & Duncan, 1993) self- efficacy scale. Conclusions and Implications: Mobile-health tracking apps have a potential effect on preventative health care measures including increased physical activity, improvement in dietary self-monitoring, and beneficial dietary behavioral change. Applying health behavior change strategies (e.g. goal setting, self-monitoring, and performance feedback) will enhance health behavior changes across different population and setting. Funding: None.

The relative validity of a food record using the smartphone application MyFitnessPal.

The present study aimed to validate food records on the application MyFitnessPal (MFP), comparing them with paper-based food records (P-FR). Thirty university students, including males and females, volunteered and recorded dietary intakes on P-FR and MFP food records (MFP-FR). The values of energy, macronutrients and fibre from MFP-FR were compared with data from P-FR, calculated using Brazilian food composition tables. Adjustments for in-person variability and energy intake were performed, and comparisons were made between each data set, using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Spearman's correlation and Bland-Altman agreement plots. Positive moderate correlations between P-FR and MFP-FR for all variables, and non-significant associations for energy and fibre were found. The Bland-Altman plots showed tendency to underestimation and relatively narrow limits of agreement. Carbohydrate and lipids show trends of increasing the degree of overestimation with increased intake, even after data normalisation. MFP tends to underestimate ingestion of nutrients probably due to inadequacies in the MFP database. However, MFP showed good relative validity, especially for energy and fibre. Its use, as well as other similar applications, should be encouraged, due to ease of assessing dietary information, although careful usage is recommended because of database gaps.

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