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The Design and Development of BMI Calc Android Application

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2016 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 160 012115

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

The Design and Development of BMI Calc Android

Application

Iliana Mohd Ali and NooraidaSamsudin

Terengganu Advanced Technical University College (TATIUC), Teluk Kalong, 24000
Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. Body mass index is a familiar term for those who are weight conscious. It is the term
that let user know about the overall body composition in terms of fat.The available body mass
index calculators whether online or on Play Store do not provide Malaysian meal suggestions.
Hence, this paper proposes an application for body mass index calculator together with
Malaysian meal suggestion. The objectives of the study are to design and develop BMI Calc
android application for the purpose of calculating body mass index while embedding meal
suggestion module. The design and methodology involve in the process are also presented.

1. Introduction
Mobile phones have crucial influences on consumers and their life style. Nowadays, there are many
applications which have been developed for mobile phones and one of those is healthcare applications.
Gartner, Inc. has identified ‘Mobile Health Monitoring’ as the fifth among the ‘Top 10 Consumer
Mobile Applications for 2012’ [1]. This list is supported by the ‘Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends
for 2014’ which includes ‘Mobile Apps and Applications’ [2]. Analysts expect global mobile health
market’s value will increase to $11.8 billion by 2018 [3]. As a matter of fact, the medical apps
industry is expected to grow by 23 percent next year.
At the time of the study was conducted, the available body mass index (BMI) calculators whether
online or on Play Store did not provide any Malaysian meal suggestions. Therefore, there is a need for
an application with BMI calculator embedded with Malaysian meal suggestions. The objectives of the
study are to design and develop BMI Calc android application which enables to calculate BMI and to
incorporate Malaysia meal suggestion module within the application. Specifically, BMI Calc is able to
suggest suitable meal for certain Malaysian dishes with related calorific values. The project scope
involves the calculation of the BMI, which is to be calculated within the application itself; then
suitable Malaysian meals with calories will be displayed.
This paper is organized into several sections. Section 2 discusses the related work focusing on
various health monitoring applications. Section 3 presents the design and methodology involves in the
process including the flowcharts. Section 4 presents the user interfaces and evaluation for BMI Calc.
Finally, the work of this paper is summarized in the final section.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

2. Related Work
In order to design and develop BMI Calc Android Application, few related works have been reviewed.
The related works are summarized as in Table 1, starting from the earlier published work to the most
recent ones.
Table 1. Past researches on BMI Calculator
Source Technique Feature Used Domain Disadvantage/Advantage Future
Direction
Sowah, Modules: BMI User friendly interface
Buadu and Calculator,
Fiawoo [4] Food Calorie
Calculator,
Mealtime
Planner and Implement
Disease Risk on other
Android
Determinator mobile
Architectural Health
Rao and Modules: Interfaces are not user platforms
Framework
Krishna [5] BMI/BMR friendly apart from
Calculation, Android
Exercise
Calorific
Calculation,
Recommended
Exercise
Madariaga Artificial Obtaining BMI The bottom line detected Height
and Neural height using by searching for estimation
Linsangan Network camera and horizontal line on the is better if
[6] measuring pattern on the floor higher pixel
weight using rating is
load cell used

3. Methodology and Design

This research adopts the steps of waterfall model which progress from one phase to another linearly,
as illustrated in Figure 1 [6].

Figure 1. Waterfall model steps

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

Waterfall model was chosen because parts of the application are generally well understood. It can
be observed from Figure 1 that the study commenced with stage 1 - the requirements specification.
User and application requirements need to be gathered in order to obtain clear picture pertaining to the
specific features of the application. Table 1 shows the relationship between user and the application
requirements.
Table 2. User Requirements and Application Requirements
No User Requirements Application Requirements
1. Key-in height and weight Height in meters and weight in kilograms will be keyed-in BMI
Calc.
2. View BMI BMI will be displayed up to 2 point forms.
3. View BMI category BMI category either underweight, normal weight, pre-obese, or
obese will be displayed.
4. View Meal Suggestion Menu suggestion for breakfast, morning tea break, lunch and dinner
will be displayed.
Next, it is followed by the second stage which involves designing the workings of BMI Calc
Android application and the software.

3.1. BMI Calculator

This module calculates the BMI based on the height in meter and weight in kilogram of a user using
the formula in (3.1).
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔 ℎ𝑡 𝑘𝑔
𝐵𝑀𝐼 = 2 (3.1)
𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑚

BMI can be defined as a heuristic proxy for estimating human body fat based on an individual’s
weight and height. According to World Health Organization (WHO), Asian BMI classifications can be
categorized to 4 groups as tabulated in Table 3 [5]. This classification is intended for both men and
women.
Table 3. WHO Asian BMI classifications.
Category Weight Meaning
1 < 18.5 underweight
2 18.2 to < 23 Normal weight
3 23 to < 27.5 Pre-obese
4 >= 27.5 Obese

3.2. Meal Suggestion

The researchers developed meal suggestions on the application utilizing App Inventor 2. The
suggestions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are based on the number of calories needed by the user,
which also taking into account several favourite Malaysian dishes. BMI Calc Android Application
development using App Inventor 2 is described in Figure 2.
Then, the third stage of BMI Calc application development (Coding) was the implementation stage.
Testing was performed concurrently with the programming of the application.The overview of BMI
Calc operation is displayed in Figure 2. Two inputs are demanded from the users which are height and
weight. Once this information is inserted in the application, user’s BMI will be calculated based on the
aforementioned formula. As a result, the user’s BMI category together with suitable meal suggestion
for that particular category will be displayed.

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

Start

Input
Height, Weight

Calculate
BMI = Weight / Height2

BMI and Meal

Suggestion

Print Print
Underweight Normal Weight

Print Print
Pre-obese Obese

Stop

Figure 2.Overview of BMI Calc Operation

Afterwards, stage four involves integrating and testing BMI Calc Application before it can be fully
utilized by users. All of BMI Calc functions must be tested to ensure that it is error free and the end
result meets user requirements as determined earlier in the study. Finally, stage five requires that the
developers to perform frequent operation and maintenance so that BMI Calc keeps on functioning at
its best ability.

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

4. Results
As shown in Figure 3, the overall test operation of BMI Calc Application had indicated a successful
outcome in designing and developing the application. Figure 3(a) shows BMI Calc interface
requesting for user’s height in meter and weight in kilogram. Figure 3 (b) displays the BMI Calc after
receiving input from user. Given example was a user with 1.61 meters tall and weighs 65 kilograms.
Once the CALCULATE button was pressed, BMI Calc displayed user’s BMI category as in Figure 3
(c). The sum of the calculation indicated that the user was pre-obese.
Finally, when the user pressed on the Meal Planner button, an image suggesting meals to be
consumed during breakfast, morning tea, lunch and dinner were displayed as in Figure 3 (d). The
application also revealed the calculated calories on the suggested meals. Apart from that, the
appropriate hour or range hours when each meal should be taken was also recommended.

Figure 3 (a), (b), (c), (d). BMI Calc interfaces

4.1. User Evaluation

To obtain data on users’ opinion about the application’s ease of use aspect, the instrument -
questionnaire was administered. A total of 30 respondents participated in users’ evaluation process.
The respondents of the study were the users who had tested the application for the first time. These
users were requested to fill out the questionnaire upon the completion of the application testing and
rate their experience in using the application.
The questionnaire was constructed into two different sections: section A and section B. Section A
was used to obtain demographic background of the users including age, gender and level of education.
Data were then analyzed using descriptive method and is tabulated as in Table 4.

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

Table 4. Demographic profile

Question Item Frequency Percentage (%)
Age 18-20 10 33
21-23 17 57
24-26 3 10
27 and above 0 0
Gender Male 25 83
Female 5 17
Level of Education Diploma 10 33
Degree 20 67
Master 0 0
PhD 0 0
Yes 19 63
No 11 37
Section B contains six elements on the evaluation of the use of BMI Calc application which are a,
b, c, d, e, and f. Inferential statistical method was used to analyze data in this section. Table 5 and
Figure 4 show the overall results on the evaluation for BMI Calc Application from the aspect of easy
use. It was discovered that mode for user feedback regarding the ease of use is 4 and most users are
agreeing for ease of use for this application. The range for average based on user feedback is 3.43 to
3.57 with the standard deviation range from 0.556 to 0.817. The highest average is for item a, b, and d
based on user feedback is 3.57 (SD = 0.626, 0.728, and 0.679). The lowest average is for item c which
is 3.43 (SD = 0.817).
Table 5. Results of Ease of Use Construct
No Item Min Max Mode Average Standard
Deviation
a. The app is easy to use 2 4 4 3.57 0.626
b. It is simple to use 1 4 4 3.57 0.728
c. It is user friendly 1 4 4 3.43 0.817
d. It requires the fewest steps possible to 1 4 4 3.57 0.679
accomplish what I want to do
e. It is flexible to use 2 4 4 3.53 0.629
f. I don’t notice any inconsistencies when I use it 2 4 3 3.37 0.556

4.1 4 4 4 4 4
4.0
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.57 3.57 3.57 3.53
3.6
3.5 3.43
3.37
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1 3
3.0
a b c d e f

Mode Mean

Figure 4. Response for Ease of Use

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International Engineering Research and Innovation Symposium (IRIS) IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 160 (2016) 012115 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/160/1/012115

5. Conclusion
An android application that calculates body mass index on different categories including underweight,
normal weight, pre-obese and obese is needed by the health conscious community. However, only a
few in the market today which can suggest Malaysian dishes as part of the application. Hence, with the
development of BMI Calc Android Application, the researchers are able to assist particularly
Malaysian people in eating healthily by including Malaysian meal suggestion module in the android
application which can recommend suitable dishes based on the body mass index categories.

References
[1] Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Consumer Mobile Applications for 2012
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1230413 Accessed on 1 August 2016
[2] Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2603623 Accessed on 1 August 2016
[3] Greenspun H and Coughlin S 2012 mHealth in an mWorld How mobile technology is
transforming health care (Washington: Deloitte Development LLC)
[4] Robert S, Joana N B and Seth Y F 2013 Design and Development of a Personal Health
Monitoring System on Android Mobile PlatformInt. J. of Engineering Sci. and Technol.5 1313-
20
[5] Rao V S and Krishna T M 2014 A Design of Mobile Health for Android Applications American
J. of Engineering Research3 20-9
[6] Madariaga N E Q and Linsangan N B 2016 Application of Artificial Neural Network and
Background Subtraction for Determining Body Mass Index (BMI) in Android Devices Using
BluetoothInt. J. of Engineering and Technol.8 366-70
[7] Sommerville I 2016 Software Engineering ed M Horton (Essex: Pearson) chapter 2 pp 47