In all LFIT classes at UNC, students participate in a lab where they input the amount of calories they consume throughout one week into an app called MyFitnessPal.
The app may not be the best way for students to participate in the lab.
Students have the option to input other nutritional information regarding their food into MyFitnessPal, but the app only requires the calories portion.
Solely focusing on calorie counting has been cited by professionals as ineffective, since it does not establish a routine diet for the body to adjust to.
There is an alternative assignment offered for students who might become triggered by the original assignment due to body or mental health issues.
The alternative allows students to design their own meal plan while not focusing on the amount of calories. Separating students who have experienced eating disorders in the past from those who have not, and requiring the ones who are comfortable to count calories perpetuates the idea that calorie counting is a viable practice for anyone.
In order to promote healthy eating in the future, the LFIT program could replace the MyFitnessPal with an originally designed food tracker, one that requires students to input information other than amount of calories.
Replacing MyFitnessPal with an originally designed food tracker would make LFIT more accessible to everyone.
