Lunch Line was created in 2010 for entry in the Apps for Healthy Kids competition. Its goal is to teach kids about their personal nutritional requirements and how to balance their meals to meet those requirements in a fun way.
Nutritional data for the foods available in Lunch Line were acquired from the USDA Nutrition Dataset version 2.0 found at: http://www.data.gov/raw/1294/
Caloric targets are calculated from recommendations that are specified in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines found at: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter2.htm
Recommended intake varies by activity level but for the purposes of this game, individuals were assumed to have moderate activity. This is a reasonable assumption for the target age group.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated from the user’s settings based on the formula provided by the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/childrens_bmi_formula.html
The BMI is used to determine whether the user is underweight (under 5th percentile) or overweight (over 85th percentile). Underweight individuals are given an increased recommended caloric target within the game that corresponds to an individual of their characteristics with a HIGH level of physical activity. Individuals who are overweight are given a lower caloric target that corresponds to that of an individual of their characteristics with a LOW level of physical activity. These changes were made to encourage a shift in the user’s BMI towards the norm.
Food pyramid group needs are calculated from the resulting caloric target based on the breakdowns found at: http://www.mypyramid.gov/.
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