As an extension to our project, we have created a prototype of a healthy eating phone app which can be implemented in the future
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“My Foodie Friend” is a multi-function healthy eating app which provides a user-friendly yet effective platform to expose children to the concept of healthy eating from young, with the hopes of instilling an adherence to a healthy eating ethos as they grow.
This app encompasses four functions:
1.“My Diet” Function which serves as a recording function for users to input their daily food intake by categories in relation to the eatwell plate
2. Motivation / Recognition Function where users will be sent regular motivational messages. A congratulatory message will be sent when a balanced diet is achieved
3."At a Glance" Function where users can obtain a monthly analysis of their eating habits
4.Healthy Eating Tips Function where users can view advice and useful tips related to healthy eating and having a balanced diet
5.Useful Resources Function which compiles essential information from credible websites targeted at parents of child users
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"My Diet" Function
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Under the “My Diet” function, children can record their daily food intake by scrolling through the food items gallery and clicking on the appropriate food icons. “My Foodie Friend” will then categorise the type of food into different categories in the eatwell plate, namely:
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Starchy carbohydrates
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Fruits and vegetables
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Protein
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Food and drink high in fat and/or sugar
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Dairy
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Motivation/Recognition Function
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The “Motivation” Function displays encouraging messages when users have not achieved a balanced diet for the day.
The “Recognition” Function serves as a tool for users to derive a sense of gratification by when they meet dietary recommendations. Rewarding children with stickers instills a sense of motivation to keep up the good work and adhere to healthy eating habits for a longer-term period
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"At a Glance" Function
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The “At a Glance” function adopts a calendar view which shows a month-by-month breakdown analysis of the user’s eating habits in terms of whether a balanced diet (recommended by the eat-well plate) was achieved on each day. This allows users to keep track of their progress over the months to identify any targets for improvement.
Dates highlighted in red denote failure to achieve a balanced diet while dates highlighted in green denote successful achievement of a balanced diet
Healthy Eating Tips for Children Function
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Under the “Healthy Eating Tips For Children” Function, children can educate themselves by reading some of our important tips on healthy eating. This is not an exhaustive list of advice and should be supplemented with education from parents, schools and other resources which can be found in the app’s useful resources area.
Healthy Eating Tips for Parents Function
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Under the “Healthy Eating Tips For Parents” Function, parents can read some of our advice on how to promote good and healthy eating habits to their children. The aim of this is to get parents to be as involved as possible in educating their children on healthy eating as we recognise the positive impact this can have on children, especially when this is done from a young age. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of tips from us. However, there will be a designated area in the app where we have collated useful information from various sources for further reading.
Useful Resources Function
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Under the “Useful Resources” Function, children and parents can find extra resources that are reliable to gain a better understanding of the rather abstract concept of healthy eating. This will help educate as well as further promote healthy eating habits.
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