Despite health guidelines to increase fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of these items remains low. A new smartphone app labeled ‘Smart 5-a day’ helps a person track the food they consume, and could hopefully encourage them to increase their intake of fruit and vegetables. The regular consumption of fruits and vegetables has been proven to help reduce the risk of developing several health conditions.
The new app is the invention of researchers at the University of Bournemouth in the United Kingdom. Although the app is based on the ‘5-a-day’ recommendations issued by health and nutrition authorities in the UK, the recommendations to consume plenty of fruits and vegetables applies worldwide. The recommendations can be tailored based on the local fruits and vegetables available, local portion sizes, and other local nutritional concerns.
Reasons why people are not consuming sufficient fruits and vegetables despite health recommendations, include poor knowledge or confusion about the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption; availability or access to nutritious fruits or vegetables; not knowing the ideal portion sizes and number of daily servings of fruits and vegetables; and the need for a variety of fruit and vegetables to meet all body requirements.
In this regard, the new app could be of help as it would increase awareness around what constitutes adequate fruit and vegetable consumption that will assist individuals to improve their overall health. To use the app, you input what fruits and vegetables you have eaten after each meal and how much. The app then converts consumption to correspond with the UK guidelines of five portions of different fruits or vegetables per day. The app also allows users to track their daily consumption over time.
One of the key benefits of the app is that it draws the attention of users to how few fruits and vegetables they consume, and this hopefully will alert them to improve their diets. The developers of the app said their hope was that the use of the app over a number of weeks would help individuals increase their knowledge and understanding of these fruits and vegetables, until such time that the app is no longer required.
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