AMA Releases Free App to Promote Healthier Lifestyles

CHICAGO — Many Americans resolve to become healthier in the New Year but have trouble monitoring their progress. Now there’s an app for that.

The American Medical Assoc. (AMA) has released a free app to help patients improve their overall health as part of the AMA Healthier Life Steps program, which promotes healthy choices and healthy lives.

“Every January, Americans implement New Year’s resolutions that involve healthy eating and increased physical activity,” said AMA President Dr. Peter Carmel. “This new app encourages people to work with their physicians to set healthy goals, and it allows users to track their progress and accomplish their goals.”

The Weigh What Matters app is free, easy to use, and encourages users to consult with their physician to establish personal health goals. The app covers three categories: weight, eating, and activity. Once goals are established, users can track their weight, physical activity, and nutrition with daily entries. It also calculates a user’s body-mass index (BMI), provides a mechanism to view progress reports, and e-mails them to the user’s physician.

“The AMA Healthier Life Steps program offers tools and information to help physicians and patients work together to promote longer, healthier lives,” said Carmel. “Physicians and their staff can use this new app as a resource to work with patients to address challenging behavioral changes.”

The Weigh What Matters app is the first AMA app that will be available through both iTunes and the Android marketplace. To download the app or to learn more about AMA Healthier Life Steps, visit www.ama-assn.org.