Social Media Applications Useful for Managing Weight

Using social media applications can help people manage their weight, a latest study states.

Researchers at Duke University said that the applications can help people track calories in food items and allow them to decide what to consume.

"If consumers wait until they enter restaurants to make purchasing decisions, it might be too late," lead author Gary Bennett, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, global health at Duke University, said in a press release. "Particularly for those who are watching their waistlines, it's important to make plans before stepping through the restaurant doors. That's why we were interested in understanding whether and how calorie information was available online."

The researchers studied 100 U.S. restaurant chains' websites to find out about  the availability of calorie information. They also looked into the ease in obtaining the required information on calorie and website design.

The results showed that most of the websites were easy to access with regards to calorie information in food. However, differences in the presentation of information made it unclear how it would affect consumer behavior.

"It's wonderful to see regulators doing more to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions," Bennett said, via the release. "However, we will need to adapt these policies to the emerging evidence, which suggests that simply placing calories on restaurant menus will not be sufficient."

The researchers found that 82 percent of restaurants provided calorie information through their websites and 25 percent presented calories on a mobile-formatted website. Around 51 percent of websites linked the calorie information page on their homepage and restaurants with quick service, large restaurants along with less-expensive menus were all more likely to carry calorie information.

According to statistics, over one-third of Americans are obese and fat-rich restaurant food can take most of the blame.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokesman, Daniel Reese, said that they were planning to impose certain rules requiring restaurants to make food nutrition information easily available.