A wide range of therapeutic issues need to be addressed in the outpatient treatment of eating disorders. Psychotherapy for psychological problems, advice on social activities such as school and work, psychoeducation about eating disorders, and the management and treatment of comorbid psychiatric and physical problems are necessary. In addition, it is important to provide therapeutic dietary guidance for eating behavior abnormalities. However, it is difficult to understand patients' dietary status, which is important for appropriate dietary guidance. The dietary diary, which is often used in outpatient clinics to monitor patients' symptoms and diet, does not provide the attending physician with a detailed and accurate picture of a patient' s actual dietary situation within a short consultation time. Moreover, if the information is incorrect, guidance may even be inappropriate. Patients are expected to make daily efforts to improve their dietary habits even as they are at the mercy of their symptoms. If they do not trust treatment and guidance, are unaware of their recovery, or feel isolated when support is not available, it is more difficult for them to stay motivated. This may lead to dropouts that worsen their prognosis.
 To address these clinical issues, the authors developed "TABEKATSU-CHAN", a smart-phone app for managing the eating habits for patients with eating disorders. This app allows patients to record detailed information about their meals and other daily activities together with photographic images. The app also has a function to enable patients to engage in activities as planned to maintain regular eating habits, as well as a function to receive periodic psycho-educational materials. By means of this facility, the therapist can share the patient's records instantly through the management tool and can also comment on their records. Since January 2021, patients attending our clinic have been encouraged to use this app. We believe the app is useful for the attending physicians to accurately understand the dietary habits of their patients and to provide dietary guidance. In addition, the communication between the attending physician and the patient through the comment function of this app likely contributes to a good therapeutic relationship. We hope that this smartphone app will further evolve into a tool that not only shares information between doctors and patients, but also encourages a more meaningful mutual connection between them.
 Authors' abstract