Table 3.

Negative aspects of the app and example posts.

Negative aspects	Example post
Encourages purging	“The times where my bar showed I was over calories, I would punish myself with an extensive amount of exercise while talking down to myself. There was a times where I would go over an insignificant amount of calories, 50 perhaps, and punish myself with a large amount of unnecessary exercising.” [ID 29213]
Promotes eating less	“I have found myself doing this [trying to eat less and less like it’s a game] and have to remind myself daily (usually at every meal) that it’s not about the number; it’s about making healthy choices . I have to make myself not feel like an utter failure if I don’t stay under my calorie limit.” [ID 533842]
Leads to obsessive behaviors	“I have struggled with bulimia/anorexia for the past 4 to 5 years, and I still struggle today in being happy with my body. I am a perfectionist and have a somewhat obsessive personality so I can get obsessed with logging my food and thinking about how many calories I am eating and drinking at all times. I probably shouldn’t be on this site sometimes!” [ID 318229]
Provides a dangerous plan	“Many people who frequent these forums know about the 1200/1500 calorie minimum for women and men, but those who have not joined the forums only assume that the less they eat, the more they will lose. For example, when I began this program over a year ago, I set my goal to 2 pounds per week in order to get things accomplished faster. My budget was around 900 calories, which I ate. DropPounds is the one calculating the calories people consume. While we cannot solely blame DropPounds for its cold calculation, we have to consider the ignorance of many people who are using this program and who are destroying their well-being in the process.” [ID 29213]