New app to help cut diabetes risk

Amidst the din of countless mobile apps, here comes an app that would help you fight diabetes. Developed by healthcare start-up Noom, the app will enable users to track their exercise and eating habits to curb Type 2 diabetes risk that continues to plague a huge population worldwide.

Noom Health will be distributed to at-risk patients by CityMD Urgent Care, which operates 40 clinics in the greater New York City area, the New York Post reported.

"A lot of these patients are like walking time bombs. They're walking around with pre-diabetes or diabetes and they don't even know it," David Shih, CityMD's chief medical officer, was quoted as saying by the Post.

It will organise a 16-week diabetes education programme developed by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But instead of attending classes, users will track their progress with their smartphones.

In addition to its educational software, Noom provides users with health coaches who answer questions and let them know when they could use some exercise -- and when to lay off the ice cream.

As such, Noom's app is an alternative to the CDC's traditional in-person classes, in which attendees typically keep pen-and-paper journals for their diet and exercise.

"It's one thing to know that you have to make lifestyle changes to improve your health, it's another thing to actually do it," Noom CEO Saeju Jeong was quoted as saying.

"Having the guidance and motivation right in your pocket makes it easier than ever to follow through," he added.