Philips Research Press Release

Eindhoven, the Netherlands - Philips Research has developed an Internet-based Personal Nutrition Coach that helps people monitor their food consumption. The Personal Nutrition Coach provides users with key insights into health aspects of their food intake and motivates them to adopt optimal eating patterns. Philips will be demonstrating this easy to use system in Hall 22 at this year’s IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung).

Although most people recognize that healthy eating is part of a healthy lifestyle, they sometimes need a little help in choosing the right things to eat. If employees regularly enjoy their meals in a company restaurant or canteen, help is now on hand. A new web-based healthy eating system, developed by Philips Research, automatically monitors the user’s eating habits and provides them with relevant feedback. The application has been designed in such a way that the employer does NOT have access to this data.

Electronic purchasing with a company smart-card is common practice in many company restaurants and canteens. The Philips system not only takes care of the billing, but also authorizes uploading of the purchase details to the Personal Nutrition Coach server. On the server, each meal is assessed for its nutritional value, including its calorie, fat, carbohydrate, protein and fiber content. The results are displayed on a user-specific password-protected web page. By entering details of the user’s current height, weight, the desired weight and daily level of activity into their user-profile, the server automatically computes the user’s body mass index (BMI) and energy balance (input/output calories). And when applicable, it estimates how long it will take the user to reach his/her desired weight.

“Many of today’s dietary monitoring systems require tedious and time consuming manual recording of the food intake and exercise levels, which tends to discourage people,” says Fred Boekhorst, Senior Vice President and manager of the Digital Society Program at Philips Research. “Since the Personal Nutrition Coach determines people’s eating habits directly from their purchasing decisions, we’ve eliminated the hassle. And by offering personalized feedback and key insights into the importance of healthy eating we actively increase their motivation.”

Philips Research’s Personal Nutrition Coach not only acts as a nutrition monitor. It also acts as an interactive trainer, recommending eating and exercise strategies that help users to meet their objectives. It also includes educational web pages, diet related questionnaires and useful food recipes.

Philips has already started a three-month trial of its Personal Nutrition Coach in three restaurants on the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven (The Netherlands).


High-resolution pictures are available from:

+ http://www.research.philips.com/newscenter/pictures/
060901-persnutcoach-pict.html

 

For further information please contact:
 

Saskia Maas
Philips Research / Communications Department
Tel.: +31 (0)6 12999910
E-mail: saskia.maas@philips.com

 

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a global leader in healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle, delivering people-centric, innovative products, services and solutions through the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 134,200 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 27 billion in 2007, the company is a market leader in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring systems, energy efficient lighting solutions, as well as lifestyle solutions for personal wellbeing. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.