Sanofi-Aventis’ GoMeals iPhone app promotes healthy meals
November 19, 2009 – 10:54 am by Gina MonariSanofi-Aventis U.S. GoMeals iPhone application is designed to help people living with diabetes make healthy food choices. The application is now available for download at the iTunes App store. GoMeals is a food-tracking tool that allows users to search thousands of foods and dishes from popular restaurants and grocery stores to easily see the nutritional content of meals and snacks.
The application was developed in partnership between Sanofi-Aventis U.S. and InTouch Solutions. In developing GoMeals, the company drew from the advice and expertise of several other partners to make the application a practical, accurate, user-friendly tool, including certified diabetes educators, nutrition experts, healthcare professionals, people living with diabetes, parents of children affected by diabetes, and diabetes patient mentors.
“The GoMeals app was created by and for people with diabetes in consultation with leading diabetes and nutrition experts,” says Jerry Durso, VP, Specialized Therapeutics Business Unit, Sanofi-Aventis U.S. “The diabetes community is thriving online, and new innovations like GoMeals are a direct result of input from people who are writing about the challenges of living with the condition on blogs, forums, and other social media platforms.”
GoMeals is the second new online offering for people living with diabetes developed by Sanofi-Aventis U.S. this year. A “GoInsulin” YouTube channel that provides information and success stories about insulin therapy was launched in February 2009.
The application is primarily designed for people living with diabetes, but GoMeals can be beneficial for anyone who is interested in tracking the nutritional content of their meals. The GoMeals “Today’s Plate” feature helps monitor each day’s calorie intake, as well as the distribution of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These three nutrient categories are also represented in a pie chart on the touch screen.
Foods are selected from the CalorieKing nutritional database, which contains more than 25,000 common food items and more than 200 restaurant menus. A restaurant locator feature helps users locate restaurants based on their current location and the type of cuisine they prefer. If the user is not at a restaurant but simply preparing a meal at home, GoMeals makes it simple to add individual ingredients to the plate so users can keep track of the nutritional content of any meal.
Along with the application, Sanofi-Aventis U.S. has launched a Twitter presence to encourage conversation among users of the application.
“The development of new technologies like GoMeals is part of a broader trend in the diabetes community,” says Carolyn Silverman, senior field training manager, CDE HELP Team. “More than at any time in the past, people with diabetes are taking the lead in defining the tools and resources they want and expect from companies that make diabetes products.”
Kelly Close from DiaTribe wrote a review of the application. Ms. Close lives with diabetes and provides a review of the application itself, as well as her own experience with it.
According to Ms. Close, GoMeals optimizes what sounded great about old software but in reality did not work. She explains that most software for counting calories is difficult because you have to approximate your homemade food in comparison to the pre-entered food choices. GoMeals allows the participant to enter all ingredients and nutritional values of meals made at home so it can be added to a virtual plate. In addition, GoMeals enables users the ability to look up local restaurants and the nutritional content of their menu on the spot.
Tags: Diabetes, disease awareness, GoMeals, nutrition, Sanofi-Aventis
