System for supporting meal menu designing

[0001] The present invention relates to provision of a dietary menu.

[0002] Known is a technology for provision of a dietary menu. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2016-200963A discloses provision of a preferable dietary menu in consideration of an activity pattern and a food preference of a user.

[0003] In the method described in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP2016-200963A, the user follows the proposed dietary menu but is not actively involved in generation of the menu. In addition, even if a food preference of the user is taken into consideration in preparation of the proposed dietary menu, the user may be restricted from eating a desired food. As a result of not being able to eat a desired food, user stress accumulates, and concomitantly there is a decrease in nutrition-management motivation. An object of the present invention is to determine a nutritionally appropriate dietary menu while actively involving the user in generating the menu.

[0004] In an embodiment, the present invention provides a device that includes a display unit for displaying a plurality of food and/or beverage options, an identifying unit configured to specify food and/or beverage selected by a user from among the options, a presenting unit configured to present food and/or beverage to be ingested together with the selected food and/or beverage, and a determining unit configured to determine a dietary menu from the presented food and/or beverage including the selected food and/or beverage.

[0005] The dietary menu may contain information on an order of ingestion of the food and/or beverage.

[0006] The device may execute a step of inputting into the determined dietary menu an ingested meal, and a step of adjusting a number of options based on the input meal; a step of generating a plan for management of physical healthcare of the user, and a step of judging a level of achievement of the plan based on meals ingested multiple times, and changing the plan based on the level; a step of inputting an amount of physical activity performed by the user, and adjusting the number of options based on the meals ingested and the amount of physical activity performed; a step of generating a plan for the management of physical healthcare of the user, and judging the level of achievement of the plan based on the meals ingested and the amount of physical activity performed within a time period.

[0007] According to the present invention a nutritionally appropriate dietary menu is determined while actively involving the user in generating a dietary menu.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of the terminal 100. The terminal 100 is a device that has an input and output function for display of information, such as a smartphone or a personal computer, and includes an input unit 110, an information processing unit 120, a display 130, and a storage unit 140.

[0016] The storage unit 140 is a storage device, such as a semiconductor memory, that realizes a function executed based on a user's instruction according to the present invention, as will be described later. In addition, a plan is stored for managing and improving physical healthcare of the user through ingestion of food (for example, a variety of information can be entered by the user, such as losing 3 kg of body weight within one month)—hereinafter referred to as a “physical management plan.” Further, information is stored on the actual dietary content and physical activity input by the user, and a database including algorithms and information on nutrition and food and/or beverage is used by the information processing unit 120 to judge, suggest, or evaluate and generate a long-term or short-term advice.

[0017] The display unit 130 is a device that includes a liquid crystal panel and a processor for displaying information generated by the terminal 100. The display unit 130 displays food and/or beverage options. In addition, the display unit 130 displays a determined dietary menu, physical exercise plan, and a report on the status of progress of the physical management plan.

[0018] The input unit 110 is an input device such as a touch panel or a mouse, and receives input of information from the user. Specifically, the input unit 110 functions as a specifying unit for receiving the food and/or beverage selected by the user from among the plurality of options and specifying the selected food and/or beverage. The user inputs via the input unit 110 information on an amount of physical activity performed by the user. In addition, information is input via the input unit 110 on the user's physical management plan and information on a current physical condition of the user (height, weight, basal metabolic rate, etc.). The input unit 110 may have a communication function for connecting to an information device and acquiring the information. In this case, information on the amount of physical activity of the user may be obtained from an information device such as a pedometer (registered trademark) using the communication function.

[0019] The information processing unit 120 is a processor and includes a presenting unit 121, a determining unit 122, a generating unit 123, and a judging unit 124. The presenting unit 121 presents the food and/or beverage to be ingested together with the food and/or beverage selected by the user. In a preferred embodiment, the presenting unit 121 adjusts a number of options based on a meal ingested and an amount of physical activity performed.

[0020] The determining unit 122 determines a dietary menu from the presented food and/or beverage that includes the selected food and/or beverage. The dietary menu may include information on the order of ingestion, as well as the type of food and/or beverage. Namely, the determined dietary menu necessarily includes the food and/or beverage selected by the user.

[0021] The generating unit 123 generates a physical management plan for the user. For example, the plan is defined by factors such as a body weight, body fat, muscle-mass, and bone density to be increased or decreased. As an example, the Harris-Benedict method is used to calculate the basal metabolic rate based on physical information, and based on the target physical condition (body weight, etc.), the period until the target is achieved, and the set amount of exercise, a difference between the calories ingested and the calories consumed for each meal is calculated.

[0022] The Judging unit 124 determines a level of achievement of the plan based on the content of the plurality of meals ingested a plurality of times and/or the amount of physical activity performed by the user within a certain time period. The level of achievement may be defined, for example, by the ratio of a weight at a time according to the plan and a weight actually measured at the time.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows an example operation of the terminal 100 in determining a dietary menu. The terminal 100 reads a current physical condition (body weight, amount of muscle, etc.) and the physical management plan (S501). The terminal 100 determines options and displays the options based on the read physical condition and the physical management plan (S503). FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen displaying the options. In this example, it is shown that steak, stir-fried vegetables, grilled fish, and boiled fish can be selected.

[0024] It is of note that ingredients and/or cooking methods may be selected instead of merely a finished product. In addition, the options may be hierarchized such as “meat”→“beef”→“stir-fried beef.” By presenting elements of a dish in a hierarchical order, a dish included in the options can be finalized by selecting the elements of the dish two or more times.

[0025] Returning to FIG. 2, the terminal 100 accepts the user's selection (S505). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, steak is selected. Subsequently, the terminal 100 refers to the stored physical management plan and information on the nutrition stored in the database, and presents one or more side dishes and the order of eating that is suitable for the selected steak (S507). When two or more options are presented, the terminal 100 accepts the selection made by the user and determines a single dish to be eaten (S509). In a case where two or more dishes are proposed, all dishes are determined (S511). In this way, the terminal 100 determines the menu for a meal (S513). The determined dietary menu is displayed on the screen. FIG. 6 is an example of a screen at this time. In this example, a dietary menu is proposed in which the selected steak is first ingested together with tomato juice, which is preferable with respect to lipolytic activity and vitamin content, and carbohydrates being ingested at the end.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows an example operation for generating short-term advice. The terminal 100 acquires a report of a meal at a predetermined time (for each meal or for one day, or when a predetermined period has elapsed since the last start of the application program, etc.) in S601. In addition, the amount of physical activity performed may be acquired if necessary (S602). It is preferable to also acquire information on a current physical condition (body weight, etc.). Specifically, when a predetermined time arrives, a message prompting the user to input information is displayed on the screen.

[0027] Based on the acquired information, the terminal 100 determines whether the meal was eaten in accordance with the proposed dietary menu and whether exercise was performed according to the proposal (S603). As a result of the determination, if a difference between the proposed dietary menu and the actual meal and/or physical activity is greater than or equal to a reference threshold, the option is changed (S604). The change is reflected in the screen display when a dietary menu for the next meal is proposed. If the difference is less than the reference threshold, the options are maintained. Subsequently, the terminal 100 generates a report including an evaluation with regard to a meal ingested and exercise performed, and advice on future diet and exercise, and displays the report on the screen (S605).

[0028] FIG. 7 is an example of a screen that is displayed when proposing the next dietary menu when the options are changed. Unlike in FIG. 5, it is not possible to select the steak, which is a relatively high-calorie food, because the meal the user ingested exceeds the calorie limit and/or the amount of exercise performed is insufficient. Namely, the choices are reduced because diet or exercise that the user followed is unfavorable. On the contrary, if the diet and exercise followed by the user are as expected or are greater than expected, the options will be maintained or increased.

[0029] FIG. 4 is an example operation for providing long-term advice. The terminal 100 periodically generates a report on the progress of the physical management plan when a predetermined number of meals (for example, 10 meals) or a predetermined number of days (for example, one week) has passed from the first day of starting the physical management plan or the number of options is less than a predetermined value (S701). The report includes information on a level of achievement of the plan and/or a level of divergence between the plan and the performance (simply referred to as “achievement”). Specifically, the terminal 100 calculates the level of achievement based on the accumulated history of the user's physical condition and history of diet and exercise and the physical management plan.

[0030] Next, the terminal 100 determines whether the current achievement (for example, the level of deviation from the target value with respect to a period of time remaining for accomplishing the plan is equal to or less than the predetermined value (S702). If the current achievement is equal to or less than the predetermined value (S702: YES), the terminal 100 proposes cancellation or change (review) of the plan (S703). If the terminal 100 decides to change the plan, the terminal 100 generates a revised plan. If the achievement level is not below the specified value (in other words, the dietary menu is being executed as planned), the plan will not be changed.

[0031] According to the above embodiment, the user is firstly given the right to select a dish that the user wishes to have, and then another dish(es) that is appropriate in conjunction with the selected dish are proposed. As a result, a dietary menu appropriate for physical management or nutritional management is proposed while allowing the user to have his-her favorite food and/or beverage in as far as possible. Since it is ensured that the user is able to have whatever food and/or beverage he/she wishes within the proposed choices, the user is not likely to feel constrained by forced decisions on a dietary menu. Rather, the user is empowered by being proactively involved in the plan.

[0032] In addition, it is determined whether the user had meals and/or performed exercise in accordance with the proposed plan based on a meal(s) that the user had (and optionally on information on physical activity performed), and a choice of dishes available to the user changes based on the determination result. Specifically, if the user has not had food and/or beverage as suggested, the user has less freedom of choice, and conversely if the user has eaten food and/or beverage as suggested (or better than suggested), freedom of choice is maintained or increased. In other words, since meals that the user has had and exercise that the user performed are fed back with a greater freedom of choice thereby being provided to the user, consciousness motivation to proactively participate in physical management is enhanced, and thus a possibility of attaining a desired goal can be expected to increase.

[0033] In addition, in a case where deviation from the goal (feasibility) deteriorates to a certain level and as a consequence no desired food and/or beverage options are available for choice, abandonment or change of the current physical management plan is proposed. This allows the user to look back at the physical management thus far and motivates the user to reset his/her goal at an opportune time. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from losing motivation in managing his/her physical healthcare.

[0034] Information such as an image of cooked dishes, a moving image of a recipe, a commentary or the like may also be displayed on the screen when displaying the options or the determined menu.

[0035] The function of determining food and/or beverage, the function of determining a dietary menu and physical activity, and the function of generating a report may be performed by a server (not shown in the figures) that communicates with the terminal 100. Namely, in a method of proposing a dietary menu according to the present invention, displaying options of food and/or beverage, determining food and/or beverage to be ingested together with the food and/or beverage selected by the user from the options, and presenting food and/or beverage are executed by one or more information processing devices.

• • [0036] 100 terminal
  • [0037] 110 input unit
  • [0038] 120 information processing unit
  • [0039] 130 display
  • [0040] 140 storage unit
  • [0041] 121 presentation unit
  • [0042] 122 determination unit
  • [0043] 123 generation unit
  • [0044] 124 judging unit