In Which Cities are People Eating the Healthiest?

Ariel Schwartz identifies where people have the best and worst eating habits based on self-supplied data gathered by a food-picture-taking and healthiness-rating application.

1 minute read

April 20, 2012, 10:00 AM PDT

By Alesia Hsiao


An iPhone app called The Eatery asks people to take pictures of their food and rate other people's pictures based on its healthiness. This week, the health start-up that created the Eatery, Massive Health, released data they've gathered from the thousands of people that use their app, and are hoping to use that information to improve eating habits.

The findings show that Copenhagen is ranked as the healthiest city, followed by San Paolo, New York City, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Philadelphia.

The app has helped to uncover intriguing eating habits among its users. "People eat 1.7% less healthy after each hour that passes in the day, presumably as their willpower erodes. That means breakfast is usually the healthiest meal, while dinner is the unhealthiest," notes Schwartz.

The Eatery is already helping its users to eat healthier. According to Massive Health's co-founder Aza Raskin, "Users ate 8% better (based on crowdsourced food rankings) after 30 days, and 11% better after three months. "It's addicting. People will take a picture of their food and rate 20 or 30 other pictures after," he says.

In the future, Massive Health hopes to delve into other health-related areas concerning stress, exercise and sleep.

Thursday, April 19, 2012 in Fast Coexist

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 18, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of Shirley Chisholm Village four-story housing development with person biking in front.

San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning

SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.

June 8, 2025 - Fast Company

Woman and young girl looking at subway map, woman pointing.

Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?

Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.

June 9, 2025 - John Pobojewski

Map of EV charging ports in rural U.S. communities.

The EV “Charging Divide” Plaguing Rural America

With “the deck stacked” against rural areas, will the great electric American road trip ever be a reality?

June 20 - The Daily Yonder

Google street view of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn with pedestrians crossing a crosswalk and cyclist in the bike lane.

Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal

Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.

June 20 - StreetsBlog NYC

Close-up of cracked and damaged two-lane roadway with double yellow stripes on a bright sunny day.

Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?

With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.

June 19 - Transportation for America