Carrying a mobile device around with you is now a common sight. Smartphones in particular are more than just an accessory or a device to make calls. Rather they are a constant companion used for all sorts of reasons.

One of these reasons is now health it seems. There are now myriads of apps that can be downloaded to help us keep track of our health including weight loss.

What’s more the number of health related apps is growing at an unprecedented rate. To date there are thousands available.

Speaking with reporters, Dan Rockwell, program manager of the Software Prototyping Centre at Ohio State University said: “I think it’s a natural complement to what the phone is now.”

He added: “We carry it around with us every day. It just seems like a natural extension to put information that impacts your life into that device.”

To give an idea of the number of apps now available, if you are an iPhone user you have a choice of 24,000. How many of these help those who are trying to lose weight is not known, but it is a fair bet there are quite a lot. At the very least they will be exercise related. For example, some apparently are calorie counters while others allow the user to keep a record of their exercise regime.

Some focus on teaching you how to eat properly while others offer help and advice on the sorts of exercise that will benefit such as biking, yoga, dancing and so on.

While apps are perhaps not the ideal mechanism to help lose weight, they are nevertheless an excellent addition to the armoury of those who want to keep track of what they are doing easily and effectively.