Chloe Diamond

NTR 300
Smartphone App Evaluation
November 2, 2014

MyFitnessPal: A Personal Evaluation

MyFitness Pal is a mobile application available for every major smartphone platform.
The application acts as a diary in which users can input information about daily food intake and
exercise. In addition to keeping track of calories taken in and expended, the application allows
you to log more extensive nutritional information such as macronutrients and micronutrients.
The application can connect with your Facebook account or address book and allows you to add
people you know who also use MyFitness Pal. This is great for accountability as it makes it easy
to keep yourself and your friends motivated to reach fitness goals you set for yourself. Friends
will be updated as you lose or gain weight depending on what your goal is and the application
also allows you to change your goals as old ones are met.

MyFitness Pal was given the highest possible application rankings for both iOS and Android platforms by researchers who conducted a study on mobile health and fitness applications
based on a set of various pre-determined criteria .1 The initial criteria set forth by researchers included a development phase, an assessment phase, and an analytical plan, allowing for a standard
means of comparison of the applications. According to the Pagoto paper, the most common behavioral strategies in 30 popular weight-loss mobile apps were weight-loss goal setting, dietary
goal setting, and calorie balance, all of which MyFitness Pal provides. Despite the commonality

of all of these features between applications evaluated in this study, MyFitness Pal efficaciously
utilizes them all and its ratings are high. MyFitness Pal met 15 percent of features from the diabetes prevention program and although this number is not as high as ratings of other applications,
this figure can still be interpreted as a success, as the application is not directly intended for disease management.1

The data for the majority of food items and exercises the application has available for users to input into their personal journals is fairly accurate. For some food items, chicken breast,
for example, a few entries exist for the same item. One entry for 4 ounces of chicken lists the
food as having 120 calories and 28 grams of protein, while another entry for the same exact item
lists 22 grams of protein and 110 calories for the nutritional information.2 These discrepancies in
my experience using the application were not uncommon to come across. When I checked the
USDA website for the nutritional makeup of a 4 ounce chicken breast, I found two different figures, one for the amount of meat cooked and one for the raw amount, which caused me to believe
that this could potentially be reason for the array of entries in the applications database.3 Users
are allowed and encouraged to input information for food items they are unable to find within the
database and the application does not do a great job of filtering out inaccurate entries. The majority of entries, however, are seemingly accurate, as concluded using the Boudreaux et all publication. Two methods used to evaluate the application were Review app descriptions, user ratings,
and reviews, and pilot the apps.4 Using the criteria for evaluating mobile applications set forth by
the Boudreaux paper, I was able to come to the conclusion that MyFitness Pal is a well-liked and
useful application with only minor setbacks. The application gets the job done and again is generally accurate keeping in mind why certain discrepancies might exist within the database.

According to information found on the MyFitness Pal and iTunes App Store websites, the
database currently has 4,000,000 food items is growing daily.2,5 The Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics, rated the app highly, 4.5 out of 5 stars and had fairly good things to say about the program as a whole, and also mentioned the applications strong point as its ability to analysis nutritional status. The Academys review did however mention that the content of the food and exercise data base was only average.6

With the general expectations set forth for mobile applications by the keepitusable
checklist, I was able to evaluate whether or not MyFitness Pal was an easily usable application.
Personally I do not consider myself to be incredibly tech-savvy, but I find MyFitness Pal to be
very simple and straightforward. I introduced the application to my parents, both whom are not
highly technologically literate either, and they found the application self-explanatory and very
useful. Of the twenty five different items on the keepitusable checklist, I only noted two items
which were not consistent with the application and those were Present users with a confirmation
option when deleting, and Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors.7 The interface of the application is again very user friendly and uses a color scheme of blue and white
which is very easy on the eyes. Buttons on the application are easy to understand and searching
for food items or exercises to input into ones diary is quite simple as well.

According to the applications download page on the Apple iTunes App store, a large
majority of users who have used the application find it to be useful and straightforward.2,5 The
application, as of November 2, 2014 has a ranking of 4.5 out of 5, based on the opinion of nearly

420,000 users, and ranks highly in the category of fitness and health related applications. User
reviews mention the large and accurate database and also credit the application with providing
them with positive results and generally regard the application as helpful and superb overall. One
user called the application incredibly easy to use, while another mentioned I cant believe this
app is free! I would have paid for this, more reason to believe that people find the application
easy to use.5 A report by Today regarding a study conducted by Consumer Reports published last
year regards the application as one of the best in the health and fitness category, due in part to
its ease of usability, practicality, and cost: free of charge.8

MyFitness Pal is a useful and practical mobile phone application which can assist in
achieving and maintaining health goals. The application comes highly rated and is accurate and
easy to use, but also efficient in getting the job done. Without a doubt I would recommend this
application to anyone looking for a smartphone application to help them gain, lose, or maintain
weight, or to an individual looking to keep track of intake specific nutrients with accuracy.

Works Cited
1. Pagoto S, Schneider K, Jojic M, DeBiasse M, Mann D. Evidence-Based Strategies in WeightLoss Mobile Apps. Am J Prev Med. 2013;45(5):576-582.
2. MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter, Diet and Exercise Journal. Web site.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com. Accessed November 1, 2014.

3. The National Chicken Council The Nutritional Value of Chicken. Web site.
http://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/. Accessed November 13, 2014.
4. Boudreaux ED, Waring ME, Hayes RB, Sadasivam RS, Mullen S, Pagoto S. Evaluating and
selecting mobile health apps: strategies for healthcare providers and healthcare organizations.
Translational Behavioral Medicine. :1-9.
5. Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitness Pal on the App Store on iTunes. Web site.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/calorie-counter-diet-tracker/id341232718?mt=8. Accessed November 2, 2014.
6. Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitness Pal--App Review from the Academy. Web site.
http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=6442467033#.VFaQl77BflI. Accessed November 1, 2014.
7. keepitusable Mobile App Usability Checklist. Web site.
http://www.keepitusable.com/keepitusable-mobile-app-usability-checklist.pdf. Accessed October
30, 2014.
8. Mapes D. Best DIY diet? MyFitnessPal app, says Consumer Reports. Web site.
http://www.today.com/health/best-diy-diet-myfitnesspal-app-says-consumer-reports-1C9381748.
Accessed November 2, 2014.