Keywords
anthropometric indicators
Visual Basic Application for Excel
Health and Nutrition
e-BMIC
How to Cite
Abstract
Existing Body-Mass-Index (BMI) calculators generate reports by data migration, or encoding analyzed nutritional data into the spreadsheet. Then, the user formats these reports according to the Organization’s specifications. In some cases, the user does manual computation and analysis, or the spreadsheets require additional coding and importation of growth standards. These knowledge and skills are beyond the capability of most end-users. This paper, therefore, aimed to innovate an electronic Body-Mass-Index Calculator (e-BMIC) for generating auto-formatted nutritional reports that are usable by even the techno-challenged end- user. The program was written in Visual Basic Application for Excel following the modified waterfall software design. Since it runs on personal computers and mobile devices, it is useful for health workers conducting field monitoring and reporting in rural communities. Its major distinct features are the following: (a) automatic calculation, generation, and formatting reports without data migration; (b) provision of management modules for data entry to allow users with limited Excel knowledge and skills; and (c) immediate display of an individual client’s nutritional status in the user-interface and worksheet. Based on accuracy and reliability, it generated error-free nutritional status reports for Eastern Samar Division of the Department of Education in the Philippines. It was assessed as excellent for usability and more likely to be recommended to users. However, the future of this application is intensifying its usability and capability while extending it for general purpose implementation.
References
Bangor, A., Kortum, P., & Miller, J. (2009). Determining What Individual SUS Scores Mean: Adding an Adjective Rating Scale. Journal of Usability Studies, 4(3), 114-123.
Baugh, J. M. (2004). Assessment of Spreadsheet and Database Skills in the Undergraduate. Information Systems Journal, 2(30).
Bejanishvili, A. (2014). Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. London, United Kindom: Spreadsheet123 Ltd.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen, Metric Version. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Children’s BMI tool for schools—Assessing Your Weight: Children’s BMI tool for schools. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chang, K. S.-P. (2016). A Spreadsheet Model Using Web Services and Creating Data-Driven Applications. Dissertation, 769.
Concordia University. (2011). Computer Skills: Levels of Proficiency. Montreal: Concordia University.
Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines. (2010). DepEd Memoranda. Retrieved from Republic of the Philippines, Department of Education: http://www.deped.gov.ph/sites/default/files/memo/2010/DM_s2010_165.pdf
Department of Health. (2005). National Objectives for Health, Philippines 2005-2010. Manila: Department of Health. Retrieved from http://www.doh.gov.ph/publications
Diabetes Canada. (2003). Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator. Canada: Canadian Diabetes Association.
Grant, D. M., Malloy, A. D., & Murphy, M. C. (2009). A Comparison of Student Perceptions of their Computer Skills to their Actual Abilities. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 8, 141-160.
Grossman, T. A. (2008). Source code protection for applications written in Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheet. arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.4774.
Hasman, L. (2011). An Introduction to Consumer Health Apps for the iPhone. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 15(4), 322-329. doi:10.1080/15398285.2011.623567
Lewallen, R. (2005). Software Development Life Cycle Models. Retrieved from CodeBetter.Com: http://codebetter.com
Lozy, M. e. (1978). Programmable calculators in the field assessment of nutritional status. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 31(10), 1718–1719.
Munassar, N. M., & Govardhan, A. (2010). A Comparison Between Five Models Of Software Engineering. IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, 7(5), 94-101.
Musadya, R. (2009). BMI Calculators. Excel Templates.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2016). Healthy Weight Tools, Calculate Your Body Mass Index. Bethesda: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Nigrin, D. J., & Kohane, I. S. (1998). GrowthCalc: An Anthropometric Calculator Accessible via the World Wide Web 667. Pediatric Research, 43(4), 116.
Onis, M. D., Onyango, A. W., Borghi, E., Siyam, A., Nishida, C., & Siekmann, J. (2007). Development of a WHO growth reference for school-aged. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 85, 660–667.
Onis, M. d., Onyango, A., Borghi, E., Siyam, A., Blossner, M., & Lutter, C. (2013). Update on the implementation of the WHO child growth standards. Nutrition and Growth, 106, 75-82.
Pi-Sunyer, F. X., Becker, D. M., Bouchard, C., Carleton, R. A., Colditz, G. A., Dietz, W. H., . . . Rocc, A. P. (1998). Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 68(4), 899-917.
Price, H. (2003). A Parabolic Trough Solar Power. Oak Ridge, Tennessee: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
ProfessionalQA.com. (2016). Acceptance Testing. ProfessionalQA.com.
Sauro, J. (2011). Measuring Usability with the System Usability Scale (SUS). Denver, Colorado, USA: Measuring U.
Seila, A. F. (2006). Spreadsheet Simulation. Proceedings of the 2006 Winter Simulation Conference, LF Perrone, FP Wieland, J. Liu, BG Lawson, DM Nicol and RM Fujimoto, eds (pp. 11-18). IEEE.
Shneiderman, B. (2000). Creating Creativity: User Interfaces for Supporting Innovation. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCH), 7(1), 114–138. doi:10.1145/344949.345077
Smedley, T. J., Cox, P. T., & Byrne, S. L. (1996). Expanding the utility of spreadsheets through the integration of visual programming and user interface objects. Proceedings of the workshop on Advanced visual interfaces (pp. 148-155). New York: ACM.
Sommerville, I. (2004). Software Requirements. Software Engineering, 117-141.
Validata Group. (2016). Test Analytics for Measuring Efficiency and Effectiveness of Software Testing Projects. Validata Group.
Vaughan, J. (2013). Chapter 2: Defining Technological Innovation. Library Technology Reports, 49(7), 10-46. doi:dx.doi.org/10.5860/ltr.49n7
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Mobile devices and apps for healthcare professionals: uses and benefits. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(5), 356-364.
Vertex42. (2009). BMI Chart (Body Mass Index). New Mexico, USA: Vertex42 LLC.
WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. (2009). WHO Child Growth Standards: Growth velocity based on weight, length and head circumference: Methods and development. Geneva: World Health Organization, 242. Retrieved from World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2010). WHO Anthro for personal computers, version 3.2.2, 2011: software for assessing growth and development of the world’s children. Geneva: WHO.
Yam, A. L. (2000). SAS® Software and Microsoft Office Visual Basic ForApplications Make Beautiful Reports Together. Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual SAS Users Group International Conference (pp. 15-25). Cary, North Carolina: SAS Institute Inc.
Zang, S., & Ashala, S. (2016). The Future of VBA Programming. Am Hofgrund 21: Solutontogo.
The copyright holder is the Innovative Technology and Management Journal, Eastern Visayas State University, Tacloban City, Philippines.