Vodafone and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the local campus for Cornell University’s medical school, have jointly developed a health app.

The app has been launched as part of the college’s wider campaign, called Sahtak Awalan, to encourage users to maintain a healthy diet and exercise.

The new app, called “Your Health First: Calorie Counter”, is available for iOS and Android devices. It enables users to keep count of how many calories the consume each day, as well as prompting them to opt for health foods rather than those high in saturated fats, sugar and salt.

The application will be available in both Arabic and English-language versions.

It uses a system of traffic lights to denote how healthy or unhealthy different dietary choices are, drawing on a database of common foodstuffs. For example, if the user logs a meal of a burger and fries, they will be awarded a red light. Healthier choices, on the other hand, get a green light.

Choosing too many unhealthy foods will cause the app to suggest healthier alternatives for the next meal.

A distinctive feature of the app is its database of typical Arabic foods which historically have not featured in popular dietary databases. And anyone downloading the app can make suggestions about foods that should be added to the database.

Vodafone is one of two operators in Qatar. The other is the recently rebranded Ooredoo. According to Wireless Intelligence, Vodafone has about one million subscribers compared to its larger rival’s 2.2 million subscribers (Q4 2012 figures).

Vodafone is the college’s exclusive communications partner.