Diet Tools

Diet tools help in the assessment of an individual’s progress with respect to his / her nutrition, anthropometry and physiology. Anthropometric assessment includes, height, weight, ideal body weight and body mass index. Knowledge of the ideal body weight is essential to know regarding the percentage of extra weight. Ideal body weight is calculated by the formula,
Ideal Body Weight = Height in cm – 100

Body mass index (BMI) is one of the indicators for ideal weight. The BMI of an individual reveals the degree of obesity or underweight.

Once the body mass index is calculated, one need to refer to a BMI chart, to know if your weight that comes from fat is within the normal range or not.

BMI = weight / height x height

The ideal BMI is in the range of 20 to 25. If the BMI is less than 20, the individual is underweight. Greater than 30 reveal the presence of obesity and indicate an unhealthy condition. A BMI between 25 and 30 is considered to be in the 'hefty' range. It calls for efforts to put down the weight and extra kilos. BMI above 30 requires immediate attention, as the risk for cancer, diabetes, gall bladder disease, heart attack and hypertension is high.

Many online diet tools are available. These sites help in providing moral support through a number of similar people. Graphs and charts help you in understanding your body and the food consumption in a better manner. Tips and success stories of many individuals are revealed.

Nutrition questionnaires are one more diet tracking tools that helps in tracking information regarding the individual. It includes general information including the demographic profile. A three day recall method is helpful in tracking the intake of the individual, in the previous three days. The intake of the individual, right from the morning till bedtime is noted down. The type of food with the quantity consumed is taken with respect to cooked amounts. Knowledge of the raw amounts is not available with all individuals. This helps in standardizing the intake, which is more or less similar. It also gives the preferences and dislikes of the individual, which is of great concern. The intake of the calories and other major nutrients are calculated. An alternative for this method is the twenty four hour recall method.

A food frequency table is yet another free online diet tool that helps in identifying the frequency of consumption of various foods. These diet analysis tools help to a great extent in reframing the same. All the above said free diet tools help an individual at the home level to do self assessment.

Submitted on January 21, 2011