Just in time for the holiday shopping and traveling season, Healthy Dining has launched a new mobile site that makes finding Healthy Dining options easier and more convenient than ever.
Featuring more than 4,000 menu items served at more than 60,000 participating restaurants across the nation, HealthyDiningFinder.com arms users with the most comprehensive database of healthy meals handpicked by registered dietitians based on qualifying nutrition criteria that emphasize lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and unsaturated fats.
A Kids LiveWell feature on the site likewise provides a growing selection of healthful options that younger eaters are sure to enjoy.
“This new mobile site makes it easy to dine out, especially during the holidays, without overindulging or feeling guilty,” says Anita Jones-Mueller, MPH, president of Healthy Dining. “It’s hard to know how the calories, fat, and sodium add up in restaurant meals. Our dietitians remove the guesswork, so you can easily find the best choices to order.”
Navigating data on the fly is part of daily American life. With a rapidly increasing majority of Americans using smartphones and/or tablets and consuming four to five meals a week in restaurants, finding healthy choices on the go has become an important driver of modern public health.
New research by Dr. Gary Bennett, associate professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute, found that while 82 percent of restaurants provide calorie information on their websites, only 25 percent offer the information in a mobile-friendly format, so that it is easily accessible to consumers away from their homes or offices.
“Getting nutrition and calorie information once seated at the restaurant may be a step too late for those diners looking for healthier options in the midst of their busy lifestyles,” says Dr. Bennett. “A seemingly small tech shift like what HealthyDiningFinder.com has done with mobile-formatting can go a long way toward improving the health of restaurant-loving Americans.”
Adds Dr. James O. Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado: “This is one of those small yet mighty steps that naturally unite health, modern lifestyles and dining out for the betterment of all Americans. We need the healthy choice to be the easy choice, and this digital advancement from the leaders at Healthy Dining brings us closer to that reality.”
Further support for the groundbreaking mobile site was offered by David Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, Director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.
“My new book, Disease Proof, is all about the incredible power of diet and lifestyle over our health and even over our genes,” says Dr. Katz. “Tools like Healthy Dining Finder illustrate just the kind of innovations we need so more people can exercise that power and add both years to life and life to years.”
