Google Maps pulls calorie-counting feature

Orlando

STEPHANIE Zerwas, the clinical director of the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina, was trying to find a restaurant in Orlando, Florida, last weekend, so she keyed the address into Google Maps for directions.

She was baffled to see a new feature: The iPhone app told her that walking instead of driving would burn 70 calories. While it was perhaps meant as an incentive to walk, those with eating disorders would instead fixate on the number, a dangerous mindset that counsellors try to minimise, she said.