Google Maps removes calorie-counting feature following criticism
Google Maps has pulled a calorie-counting feature from its iPhone application after a wave of complaints that it was dangerous or insulting.
The app showed users how many calories they could save if they walked to a location instead of driving and used mini cupcakes to put burned calories in perspective.
“This walk burns around 125 calories—that’s more than one mini cupcake!” read a screenshot from one Twitter user.
Some people interpreted the app’s feature as promoting exercise, an important goal as America is at its highest-ever rates of obesity. But Claire Mysko, the CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, told The New York Times calorie counts “can become a point of obsession” to those with eating disorders.
“For people who are hyper-focused on numbers, that can feel very oppressive to see calorie counts everywhere when you’re trying to shift your relationship with food,” she said.
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Daniel joined TriMed’s Chicago editorial team in 2017 as a Cardiovascular Business writer. He previously worked as a writer for daily newspapers in North Dakota and Indiana.