CLAPTRAPP19 ‘life threatening’ plans with no safeguards

unborn baby, or asked any questions about how far along she was. Doctors say pregnant women should eat about 2,200 calories a day by the second trimester.

Another site, Noom, said the woman could reach the same goal by April.

It offered a two-week trial for £1 and its annual subscription is £150.

Noom asked no questions about pregnancy and apparently had no advice to expectant mums about food intake.

Two days after an initial enquiry to Noom a coach emailed offering the chance to try the site for free.

It read: “We’ve put together a custom course that will help you reach your goal weight of 41 kgs (6st 7lbs) by April. I’m excited for you to start your health and wellness journey with Noom!”

Mynetdiary was given the same information and said the woman could lose weight three times faster if she signed up for a premium membership for £45 for the year. The woman was allocated a daily “budget” of 802 calories – far below the recommended amount for adults – to lose the stone and a half by March, at a rate of 2lbs per week.

Once again no questions were asked about pregnancy or health history before payment was taken.

Dr Silver said: “It’s horrifying these websites will come up with a plan for a pregnant woman. Pregnancy and losing weight just don’t go together. The baby can be born prematurely, which has complications. Worst case scenario, it could damage their brain.”

Dr Silver was worried those recovering from eating disorders are bombarded with emails about diet plans. She said: “I’ve treated people who’ve become obsessed with these plans.

“If someone already has a vulnerability it can encourage them to get to a really dangerous goal and they often aim to eat even less than the recommended amount.

It’s like offering a drug addict cheap drugs. Eating disorders are not just about food, it’s about managing feelings.”

A Dofasting spokeswoman thanked the Sunday People for pointing out the issues and said it found a “bug in the algorithm” meaning unsafe plans were generated. She said: “We immediately fixed this. We cannot control information on unofficial forums and have never recommended any of our users to go for seven days without food.”

Mynetdiary chief Sergey Oreshko vowed to overhaul the site and make guidance for pregnant women and those with health conditions more prominent.

He said that after signing up to the app his site warned those aiming to eat under 1,200 calories a day and drop to a BMI below 18.5. It tells them their regime “might be too aggressive”.

Noom was approached but declined to comment.

It’s horrifying ...like offering a drug addict cheap drugs