If you’re a student looking to get nutrition tips on the go and meal deals on campus, there’s an app for that.
Carleton’s Dining Services released an app on Oct. 5 aimed at making it easier for students to make healthy choices on campus.
The app, called Live It Good Plus, was developed as a part of a joint partnership between Aramark and Guruse Inc., an app development company based out of Toronto.
The app provides students with weekly articles on nutrition, home cooking, fitness, and sustainability. Students can also use the app to connect with a registered dietician.
The majority of the content is generated by registered dieticians, personal trainers, and culinary graduates, according to Nikolas Chung, the app’s program co-ordinator.
“[It’s] designed to address not just eating well, but the healthy habits that form a healthy lifestyle,” Chung said in an email.
The app is available free to download from the app store for both Apple and Android devices, and requires students to create an account through their emails in order to log in. People without a smartphone can also sign up for the app online.
Students using the app are also able to access mobile coupons they can open on their phones and redeem at various dining services locations across campus.
Each time a student redeems a coupon, their account is credited with points that can be used to enter monthly contests.
To mark the launch of the app, this month’s prizes include a year’s supply of Vitamin Water and an all-expenses paid trip to the 2015 Grey Cup in Winnipeg.
“We really tried to focus the program, and its contents have been designed around students’ lifestyle and their limitations,” Chung said. “We know students live very busy lives, and they don’t have a lot of money to do everything they want to do.”
As a result, the app features recipes that can be made for less than five dollars, or fitness routines that can be done between classes, Chung said.
“Everything on the app has been designed with a student-first mindset,” Chung added.
The app is currently also available to students at 11 other post-secondary schools across Canada. However, certain parts of the app—such as the coupons—are specific to Carleton’s campus. In the future, the app will be updated to include more Carleton-specific features.
Andrew Palombo, a first-year commerce student, said he thinks finding healthy options on campus isn’t too bad, but that he probably would not download the app, since he doesn’t eat at the Fresh Food Company cafeteria.
Fifth-year neuroscience student Laila Mustapha said she thinks the app is a good idea for students looking to develop a healthy lifestyle.
“Personally, I’m not very conscious about what I eat, which I should change,” Mustapha said. “I think it’s a good idea for people who are trying to eat healthy, especially people living away from home.”
As for finding healthy options on campus, Mustapha said the cost of the healthy options means it is easier for students to choose unhealthy ones.
According to Chung, the app currently has around 400 users at Carleton.
