Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore how some restaurant-goers in B.C. (British Columbia), Canada manage their nutrition intake when dining in restaurants offering the use of software service accessible through mobile technology. The authors argue that the Food Tracker software service complements Health Canada’s intent to empower people by taking initiative in managing their health. Food Tracker provides nutritional information about restaurant meals on iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches, and other smart mobile devices by scanning the restaurant’s menu quick response (QR) code. The study results suggest that restaurant-goers’ nutritional health care management may need to start with health care professionals’ education, or be facilitated by using trusted and maintained websites or apps offering nutritional content of restaurant menu items. The study covered a number of restaurant-goers in several Victoria, B.C. restaurants offering the Food Tracker application as well as a random number of people surveyed in downtown Victoria.