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My Family Food an iPhone Application

My Family Food is a unique diet tracking application in that it allows the user to track not only their own intake, but that of their entire family (up to 20 profiles!) all in one place.

Customizable
Unlike other food group tracker applications, you can decide which food groups to track, and which to ignore. If you are only concerned about fruits and vegetables, that is all you have to track.

There are categories for the USDA recommended groups:

	Grains
	Fruits
	Vegetables
	Dairy/Cheese
	Meat/ Protein
	Oils

There are also categories for:

	Omega 3 fatty acids/DHA
	Vitamins
	Water

Ways Utilize My Family Food

Pick up where the baby trackers leave off
- track your child during the transition from breast milk/formula to dependence on solid foods for nutrients.

The USDA does not make recommendations about food intake for children 1-2 years old because it hopes that you will consult a health professional for guidelines. This app is not intended to be a substitute for consulting with your pediatrician but can help guide you in making the transition to solid foods. Resources for recommended amounts in this age group can be found in the references list.

Motivate picky eaters!
A fun motivational “Rewards Program” encourages picky eaters of any age. My family Food will display recommended food amounts, but if this is too far of a reach for your picky eater, set a lower, more attainable goal and then increase expectations in response to improvements. You can activate the Rewards Program within each profile.

Earn a Bronze medal for completing a custom set percentage of foods within each food group (i.e. if you eat 50% of the targeted amount of fruit you earn a bronze medal)

Earn silver medal each time you complete an individual food category

Earn a gold medal when you complete all of your targeted foods for the day

Children and adults will love the fun sounds that can be programmed to accompany your accomplishments. Hear a “bite” or a “burp” each time you complete a food item. Hear a “burp” or a “cheer” each time you earn a medal. Or, have no sounds at all for more discreet tracking.

Engage the entire family in a healthy eating “Olympics”!
Challenge your spouse and children to see who can earn the most medals in a day/ week by accomplishing their customized eating goals.

View average intake over several days rather than focusing on one day at a time with saved data.

Evaluate whether you or your family member’s eating habits are in line with USDA recommendations for a balanced diet by displaying average intake for selected food groups. Data can be saved for either 7 days or 1 month. The USDA advises that intake over several days is more important than daily intake. So, if your average intake is at the selected level daily fluctuations are unimportant. Averages are displayed so you always know how you are doing.

Learn about healthy eating
The application will provide you with valuable information about what a portion size really “looks like”, as well as valuable information about each food group, especially Omega 3 fatty acids.

How do you know how much to eat?
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “MyPyramid” Recommendations
Knowing what you or your child eats is meaningless unless you are aware of what is reasonable to expect from a person of that age. For this reason, My Family Food contains built in alerts to indicate the USDA average recommended amount of food in each food group, plus information to advise what a reasonable serving size is for that age person. (Exact amounts can be determined for food groups other than Omega 3 fatty acids, water and vitamins. Click here Many parents are afraid their children aren’t eating enough, when they are actually expecting the children to eat too much! In contrast, adults (especially in the US) are so accustomed to seeing oversized portion sizes; they eat too much and don’t even realize it.

The recommended daily amounts change as children age. After 11years, the recommended amounts remain the same. Automatic alerts near and just after as children move into the next age group remind you that target food amounts and portion sizes should be changed. Review past dietary intake by scrolling back up to 30 days (though you cannot change data from a previous day at this time).

Determining exact Food recommendations
Your exact recommendations from USDA (for ages 2 years and up) can be determined by entering data into this chart.

Recommended amounts for My Family Food are based on the an average amount of 30-60 minutes of daily activity (in addition to normal activities) and are averaged for male/ female within the following age groups:

· 1-2 years
· 3-4 years
· 2-3 years
· 4-5 years
· 5-9 years
· 9-11 years
· 11 years to adult

My Family Food has been recognized as a My Pyramid Alliance Partner in supporting USDA mission to combat childhood obesity and improve the health of all Americans.

Amounts used for determining My Family Food recommendations:

Serving Size

Total amount of food per day

References
http://parenting.ivillage.com/tp/tpnutrition/0,,6w,00.html
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/mpk_poster2.pdf
http://www.mypyramid.gov/professionals/index.html
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/dha_ara_basics.html
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/dha_ara.htm
http://www.drgreene.com/21_797.html
Personal communication with Similac consumer relations 1800-232-7677
Book: From NICU to Childhood: Evaluation and treatment of pediatric feeding Disorders by Fraker and Walbert

4201 Brookfield Drive, Kensington, MD 20895
Tel 301-801-5301 Fax 240-363-0078
lindsay@familyfundamentalsonline.com

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