PRACTICE APPLICATIONS

This article was written by JackieHaven, MS, RD, director of the Nutri-tion Marketing and CommunicationDivision; Sarah Chang, MPH, RD,nutritionist; Mary Herrup, MS, RD,nutritionist; and Shelley Maniscalco,MPH, RD, nutritionist; all at the USDepartment of Agriculture Center forNutrition Policy and Promotion.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2013.08.007

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The MyPlate Message Chronicles

7 SuperTracker Features You’ve Never Heard Of

WITH OVER 3 MILLIONregistered users, Super-Tracker, the US Depart-ment of Agriculture’s

(USDA’s) award-winning online dietand activity tracking tool, available atwww.SuperTracker.usda.gov, is helpingAmericans improve their diets andhealth. It’s not only a great tool for self-management, it’s a fabulous resourcefor registered dietitians (RDs) helpingthe public to eat more healthfully eachday. You’re probably aware of the pri-mary SuperTracker features (ie, MyPlan, Food Tracker, Physical ActivityTracker, My Weight Manager), butthat’s not all you can do with this freeresource. This column shares some ofthe lesser-known features that canbenefit RDs. For more tips and inspi-ration, we invite you to attend oursession, SuperTracker: An RD’s Best Ally,at the Academy’s Food & NutritionConference & Expo on Sunday, October20, 2013, from 8:00-9:30 AM.

1. MY RECIPELaunched in October 2013, Super-Tracker’s newest feature lets you build,track, and analyze your own recipes.Access the My Recipe feature underTrack Food & Activity navigation. Builda recipe by searching for and addingindividual ingredients and entering thenumber of portions. SuperTracker pro-vides a detailed nutrition analysis perportion, including all food groups, cal-ories, empty calories, and 33 differentnutrients. In addition to tracking per-sonal recipes in Food Tracker, you canalso export your recipe analysis to PDF,

Word, or Excel for use outside of theapplication. Plus, the tool accountsfor raw-to-cooked conversions andnutrient retention factors on the back-end, so you don’t have to.

2. PERSONAL CALORIE GOALDid you know that users can align theirSuperTracker calorie allowance withyour recommendation? SuperTrackerautomatically assigns calorie levelsbased on user profile information (eg,age, height, weight, physical activitylevel), but users can also tailor theirplan to align with their RD’s specializedrecommendations by setting a personalcalorie goal (Figure 1). Setting a per-sonal calorie goal results in a custom-ized plan for all future tracking, thusextending the services of the RD. Thisfeature can be found on the My Top 5Goals page of the Calories tab. Just keepin mind that this option is only avail-able to adult users who are not preg-nant or breastfeeding.

3. SAMPLE MEAL PLANSOne of the many strengths of the RD isteaching consumers how to planbalanced meals. SuperTracker has ahandy resource to help you do justthat—the Sample Meal Plans page(Figure 2), found in the My Plan sec-tion. Every user receives threecustomized templates for planningMyPlate meals that meet theirpersonal food group and calorie rec-ommendations. Sample Meal Plans

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demonstrate how to balance daily foodgroup allotments across meals andsnacks. Click on any food group namefor information about which foodscount toward that group and corre-sponding portion sizes.

4. MY FOODSWhile the SuperTracker foods databaseis comprehensive with over 8,000foods, it could never be large enough toaccommodate all of the foods Ameri-cans eat, especially with so many vari-eties available. That’s why earlier thisyear we launched the new My Foodsfeature that allows users to customizenutrition information for foods in theSuperTracker database. If you find afood that is close but not an exactmatch for the food you ate, simply clickthe Customize link on the food card toopen the “Create My Food” window(Figure 3). You can then edit thenutrition information to reflect thespecific version you ate. My Foods aresaved in your Favorite Foods List foreasy entry.

5. HISTORY CHARTSSuperTracker has six different reportsavailable under My Reports, rangingfrom simple meal summaries to in-depth analyses of food groups andnutrient intake over time. HistoryCharts may be of special interest to RDs(Figure 4). What might look like onereport at first glance actually consistsof 43 different history charts. You canrun a history chart for weight, physicalactivity, total calories, empty calories,any food group, and any nutrient forany timeframe. For example, you canview a client’s vitamin K intake forseveral months, or even years. Eachhistory chart also includes the user’spersonal target or limit and a trendline. There is also a drill-down featurethat lets you hone in on any data point.For instance, if you run a monthly so-dium history chart, click on a datapoint to view the weeks of data thatmake up that month. Click again toview the days of data that make up the

013 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Figure 1. SuperTracker personal calorie goal.

Figure 2. SuperTracker sample meal plans.

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Figure 3. SuperTracker My Foods.

Figure 4. SuperTracker history charts.

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week. And once you’re viewing dailydata, clicking a data point will open areport listing the foods eaten that dayand the amount of sodium contributedby each. This report can be extremely

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helpful for RDs working with clientswho need to track a specific nutrient,whether it’s sodium, calcium, phos-phorus, vitamin K, cholesterol, orsomething else.

TION AND DIETETICS

6. MY JOURNALYou may be aware of My Journal, foundin theMyFeatures section,which allowsusers to keep track of personal factorssuch as mood, meal location, and daily

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events. But you may not know thatSuperTracker allows users to integratejournal entries with their weight, calo-rie, and physical activity history on theMy Weight Manager page and HistoryCharts. Accessing journal entries withinthe context of changes inweight, eating,and activity can help clients identifybehavioral triggers that may be associ-ated with changes in their weight andhealth. It can also help the RD pinpointareas for improvement. Click the “ShowMy Journal Entries” box above yourhistory charts to add red dots repre-

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senting journal entries to the charts.Click any dot to revisit journal entriesfrom that timeframe.

7. SITE TOUR VIDEOSDon’t have time to train your clients onhow to use SuperTracker? We’ve gotyou covered. There are a variety of sitetour videos available under the Helpmenu. Each video provides a step-by-step demonstration on how to use aspecific SuperTracker feature, every-thing from creating a profile, to usingtime-saving features like Copy Meals

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and My Combo, to tracking a specificnutrient. We encourage RDs to takeadvantage of these videos to enhancetheir clients’ experience with the tool.

For more tips on using SuperTrackerand a preview of our future plans, stopby our FNCE session, SuperTracker: AnRD’s Best Ally, on Sunday, October 20,2013. We’d also love for you to stop bytheUSDACenter forNutrition PolicyandPromotion booth to share your feedbackwith us. We value your opinion and arealways working to enhance Super-Tracker to meet your needs.

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