Noom

App that tracks food intake and exercise

Noom

Company type| Private
Founded| 2008; 16 years ago (2008)
Headquarters| New York, New York 10001

Key people

* Saeju Jeong (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman)
* Artem Petakov (Co-Founder and Head, Noom Ventures
* Geoff Cook (CEO)

Website| noom.com

Noom is an American subscription-based app for tracking a person's food intake and exercise habits. The company is known for its emphasis on behavior change and mental wellness.

## App

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When creating an account, the user is asked to record information about physical factors such as weight, height, and age, as well as experiential information such as lifestyle, goals, and obstacles.

Users then log their meals and exercise. In response, the app provides feedback in various ways: algorithmically, from a human coach, from other users, through articles, and through quizzes.

The app has been reviewed by newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune[1] and USA Today;[2] health publications such WebMD;[3] and lifestyle magazines such as Good Housekeeping.[4]

In 2024, Noom released Noom Vibe, an app in which users earn "vibes," or points, by maintaining healthy habits, like taking steps.[5][6]

## Research

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In 2016, a study published in Scientific Reports and based on data collected from 36,000 Noom users (78% female, 22% male) found that 78% of the users self-reported that they lost weight while using the app. The data were collected from October 2012 to April 2014, and the median number of days the users reported their weight was 267, or approximately 9 months. Only users who recorded their weight at least twice a month for 6 consecutive months were included in the study. The frequency of data input correlated positively with weight loss. There was a significant gender difference, such that male users on average reported a higher starting BMI and a greater weight loss.[7]

In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized Noom as a diabetes-prevention program, the first mobile app to achieve this status.[8]

## Company

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Noom was founded in 2008 by friends Artem Petakov and Saeju Jeong.[9][10] The app launched in 2016.[11] The company is headquartered in New York City.[12]

Petakov, previously a software engineer at Google,[13] is head of Noom Ventures;[14] Jeong is Noom's chief executive.[15]

In 2020, Noom generated $400 million in revenue.[16] As of April 2021, the company says it employs 3,000 people, 2,700 of whom are coaches.[17]

In 2019, as a result of a partnership with Novo Nordisk, patients taking the diabetes medication Saxenda received free access to Noom for one year.[18]

## Criticisms

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### Health programs

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Noom has been criticized for promoting diet culture in its advertisements,[19][20] for setting inappropriately low calorie goals for customers and for using staff who are not qualified as dietitians as coaches with coaching relying heavily on canned responses.[21][22]

Noom customers initially complete a survey, consisting of more than 50 questions, prior to the creation of a personalised program. In 2021, UK charity Privacy International claimed that Noom was among several diet companies which were using such tests to lure in users and that some of the data collected was not actually used to generate the personalised programs, with the same programs being recommended to many people. Privacy International further expressed concern that some of the data collected could be classed as Health data and that there was a lack of transparency about how this was shared with external organisations, including Facebook, despite such data potentially being classed as "sensitive" under the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).[23][24] Privacy International reevaluated Noom's data handling in 2023 and found "significant positive changes" while noting that Noom was still sharing data with Facebook and stating that "there is still room for improvement".[25]

### Billing issues lawsuit

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In August 2020, the Better Business Bureau issued a warning to consumers about Noom's subscription fees. Customers reported finding it difficult to cancel subscriptions following the free trial period, as well as to contact the company to obtain refunds.[26] In February 2022, Noom settled a class action lawsuit for $62 million with qualifying claimants receiving approximately $167 each. In the case a former senior software engineer for Noom stated that canceling Noom was made "difficult by design" in order to receive income from customers who did not cancel in time. Noom said that it would change its practices to make pricing and policies more transparent and that it had added self-service cancellation facilities.[27][28][29]

## References

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1. ^ Babish, Sian (December 19, 2020). "Noom review: Can this program help you achieve sustainable weight loss?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
2. ^ McCarthy, Megan (January 28, 2021). "I tried weight-loss app Noom again after a year—here's what changed". USA Today. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
3. ^ Watson, Stephanie. "Noom". WebMD. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
4. ^ Sassos, Stefani (November 12, 2020). "What Is the Noom Diet? A Nutritionist Explains How the App Can Help You Lose Weight". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
5. ^ Christine, Persaud (June 3, 2024). "10 of the most exciting product launches this spring (so far)". USA Today. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
6. ^ N, Kalina (June 5, 2024). "Noom Recently Debuted Its New Health-Focused App — Noom Vibe". Trend Hunter. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
7. ^ Chin, Sang (November 7, 2016). "Successful weight reduction and maintenance by using a smartphone application in those with overweight and obesity". Scientific Reports. 6: 34563. Bibcode:2016NatSR...634563C. doi:10.1038/srep34563. PMC 5098151. PMID 27819345.
8. ^ LaMantia, Jonathan (April 14, 2017). "Startup's weight-loss app gets CDC seal of approval". Modern Healthcare. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
9. ^ "Artem Petakov". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
10. ^ Jeong, Saeju (December 4, 2018). "I Co-Founded a Company With My Best Friend, and 10 Years Later Our Partnership Is Stronger Than Ever". Entrepreneur. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
11. ^ Melton, Monica (January 14, 2020). "Weight Loss App Noom Quadruples Revenue Again, This Time To $237 Million". Forbes. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
12. ^ Matsuda, Akiko (November 4, 2020). "Noom inks 113K-sf sublease at 5 Manhattan West". The Real Deal. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
13. ^ Madell, Robin (Sep 26, 2019). "I'm a founder who spent 3 years working as a tech lead at Google — and it was a better education than pursuing an MBA. Here are 3 lessons from my experience". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
14. ^ "Noom Co-Founder Artem Petakov Shifts to Head Noom Ventures". Slice of Healthcare. March 6, 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
15. ^ Foster, Tom (Dec 13, 2021). "How Noom's Founders Shook Up a $250 Billion Industry With a Pandemic Hit That Took 10 Years to Build". Retrieved 10 June 2024.
16. ^ Mangalindan, JP (May 25, 2021). "Weight-loss platform Noom bulks up on $540 million in new funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
17. ^ MacLellan, Lila (April 3, 2021). "Weight loss app Noom was ready for its pandemic moment". Quartz. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
18. ^ Bulik, Beth (October 11, 2019). "Novo Nordisk teams with trending weight loss app Noom to help obesity patients" (Press release). FiercePharma. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
19. ^ "Noom receives backlash after former users claim the app promotes diet culture". The Independent. 2022-01-28. Archived from the original on 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
20. ^ "Noom is fat shaming your childhood". Mic. February 2, 2022.
21. ^ "What you need to know about Noom, according to a dietitian". NBC News. April 24, 2019.
22. ^ Landsverk, Gabby. "Noom markets itself as an anti-diet lifestyle app. Users say they find themselves counting calories, receiving canned advice from burned-out coaches, and taking on expensive subscriptions". Business Insider.
23. ^ "Why is Noom duping users into sharing their private medical history?". Cosmopolitan. December 1, 2021.
24. ^ "An unhealthy diet of targeted ads: an investigation into how the diet industry exploits our data". Privacy International.
25. ^ "New Year, New Noom? What our re-testing of the weight-loss platform taught us". Privacy International.
26. ^ Temko, Sandra; Bernabe, Angeline (August 19, 2020). "Better Business Bureau warns consumers about diet app Noom after thousands of complaints". Good Morning America. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
27. ^ Landsverk, Gabby. "Noom settles billing lawsuit for $62 million and promises to change business practices to address customer complaints". Insider.
28. ^ Stempel, Jonathan (February 14, 2022). "Noom diet app reaches $62 million settlement over automatic subscription renewals". Reuters - via www.reuters.com.
29. ^ Avery, Dan (June 8, 2022). "See If You Qualify for a Piece of Noom's $56 Million Class Action Settlement". CNET.