Overweight and obesity are caused by excessive or abnormal fat accumulation presenting a risk to people’s health. According to 2017 statistics, each year, over 4 million people die due to obesity (World Health Organization, 2021). It makes obesity a global problem that needs to be cured effectively. Modern tools such as special trackers, for example, the My Plate app, allow the patients to increase the efficiency of existing methods of obesity treatment.
Methods of Obesity Treatment
Diet and exercise are among the most effective ways to treat obesity. Well-performed trials prove that a diet combined with physical activity improves functional status in adults (Villareal et al., 2017). Special applications can help the patients to monitor their diet and physical activity and increase the efficiency of other methods. According to recent research, clinically significant weight loss can be achieved by using diet-tracking mobile apps. (Carter et al., 2017). Tailored goals provided by such applications can help to reduce body mass regardless of the order in which the diet is tracked (Patel et al., 2017).
My Plate Application
My Plate is an application that helps people suffering from obesity organize their meals and physical activity in a healthy way. The amount of food that can be digested is calculated based on the age, sex, weight, height, and physical activity level of the user. The application allows picking daily food goals, earning budgets, and joining different challenges. It can be used by any audience regardless of age, as it is tailored according to the user’s body mass index. (“My Plate,” 2021). The application contains various information about different types of food, for example, grain or proteins. Thus, the application can be used in complex therapy, including diet and exercises.
Conclusion
All in all, combined ways of obesity treatment, including application usage, prove to be the most effective. A diet should be applied with exercises of several types, whereas calorie trackers can help to monitor the result. In my experience, this method also proved to be effective, as I have lost weight by using it. In my nursing practice, I will advise the patients to use the My Plate application to build healthy eating habits. It should help them to stay fit, reverse bone fragility, and prevent age-related muscle mass reduction.
References
Carter, M. C., Burley, V. J., Nykjaer, C., & Cade, J. E. (2013). Adherence to a Smartphone Application for Weight Loss Compared to Website and Paper Diary: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(4), e32. Web
My Plate application site. (2021). Web.
Patel, M. L., Hopkins, C. M., Brooks, T. L., & Bennett, G. G. (2019). Comparing Self-Monitoring Strategies for Weight Loss in a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(2), e12209. Web.
Villareal, D. T., Aguirre, L., Gurney, A. B., Waters, D. L., Sinacore, D. R., Colombo, E., Armamento-Villareal, R., & Qualls, C. (2017). Aerobic or Resistance Exercise, or Both, in Dieting Obese Older Adults. The New England Jjournal of mMedicine, 376(20), 1943–1955. Web.
World Health Organization. (2019) Obesity. Web.