Is MyFitnessPal your friend?
‘Calorie’ is a buzzword in western society, and we are obsessed with counting every single one of them. In May 2019, the health and fitness category was ranked top 8 in the Apple App Store. The majority of these apps are centred around weight loss, encouraging users to achieve goals by restricting calories and exercising. Health professionals have considered some people’s ‘goals’ on these apps below the public’s recommended standards. Most people, at some point in their lives, have thought about the foods they eat and proceed to download calorie counting apps to start being health conscious.
MyFitnessPal used to be my friend; I was entering everything into my phone and felt proud when I hit my calorie goal for that day. I consistently self-monitored my food and fitness expenditure for about a year. Calorie apps made me aware of nutrients in different meals and would positively reinforce me that I was eating a well-balanced diet. These digital technologies enable us to be accountable for our food intake with daily reminders to use the app.
I propose the question: Is there a dark side to this accessible technology?
I argue that the prolonged use of food tracking technologies can prevent users from adopting positive health and fitness behaviours by causing them to over-evaluate their weight and shape. People can become obsessed with the process of tracking and have gone to the extreme with skipping meals and social outings to meet their calories for the day. These apps encourage the user to change their body and look at food and exercise differently. Instead of encouraging nourishment or enjoyment, they manipulate a person’s mindset about body size and shape.
Researcher Professor Deborah Lupton interviewed a number of Australian women about their use of food-tracking apps. One of her subjects, Jessica a 24-year-old full-time university student with a part-time job, uses MyFitnessPal to count her calories for weight loss so she can improve her fitness and overall appearance. Jessica describes having “an unhealthy relationship with food” so she tracks to feel more in control of her body. She finds the app a real motivator because if she continues to eat the amount the app recommends she should hit her weight loss goal.
I remember feeling conflicted when I hit my calorie goal for the day, but I still felt hungry. I wondered if I should go to bed hungry or say “stuff it” and eat what I wanted?
These inner thoughts are a form of disordered eating, which includes behaviours that reflect many of the symptoms of eating disorders such as skipping meals, restrictive dieting and binge eating. These apps purpose is to enforce the notion of self-improvement, which comes from the belief that you are flawed. People are using these new technologies to manipulate their food intake and change their bodies in the name of ‘health’. However, more and more research shows that, contrary to popular belief, body size isn’t an appropriate indicator of health.
In a 2019 survey study of 95 people, 41 respondents had some form of negative experience and behaviour while using these apps. Some felt obsessive or guilty on ‘bad diet days’ and even avoided social activities. The males felt disappointment and failure when they didn’t achieve their goals. National Eating Disorders Collaboration says feelings of guilt and failure are common with people who engage in disordered eating. These feelings can arise from binge eating, breaking a diet or gaining weight. People who have disordered eating patterns may avoid social events that contain food.
Is this research saying that if you download MyFitnessPal then you will automatically get an eating disorder? Of course not, but consider the greater impact it might have on your relationship with food as well as your daily life. These technologies may have good intentions, but the affordances of these technologies can be harmful. It is not healthy to avoid dinners with friends because of MyFitnessPal. It’s important to have a balanced diet as well as a healthy social life. As the user, you are in control of this digital technology, which might mean it is time to unfriend MyFitnessPal and just enjoy food.
The risk of disordered eating is the association it has with eating disorders. If you feel like this relates to you, then please contact your local GP for a referral to a practitioner with specialised knowledge in health, nutrition and eating disorders.
