WhatTheHealth: An Android Application for Consumers of Healthy Food

Abstract

© 2019 IEEE. Currently, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) have become a severe public health problem in every country. The major cause of NCDs is unhealthy eating habits. Thus, selecting food to eat should be considerably concerned. However, it is difficult to check whether nutrients and their quantities are sufficient or excessive for daily consumption. Typically, nutrition information can be examined from nutrition facts label attached to food products. Nevertheless, most consumers do not know or clearly understand nutrition information and the appropriate amount of calories and ratio of nutrients they should be consumed each day. Nowadays, a great number of smartphone users can access information on the Internet easier and more convenient via mobile applications. Therefore, the researchers have an innovative idea to develop an android application named 'WhatTheHealth' to provide nutrition information of the packaged foods to consumers for making better food choices. The ultimate goal of this research project is to encourage people to consume healthy food, have a healthier life and far away from NCDs.