Supplement management device and supplement management method

Abstract

To provide a supplement management device and method that enable a user to take in an appropriate amount of nutrients by using supplements shipped to the user as a dietary supplement.SOLUTION: In a communication system in which a supplement management server, at least one shipping terminal, a point management server, and a plurality of user terminals are connected to a network, the supplement management server determines each planned intake timing of supplements for a predetermined number of intakes shipped to a user, acquires meal information indicating a meal ingested by the user at a timing corresponding to any of the determined intake timings, determines whether or not the supplements need to be taken based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the meal information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a preset target nutrient amount, and transmits determination information indicating a determination result of whether or not the supplements need to be taken to the user terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for making decisions regarding supplements to be shipped to a user. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known that supplements for supplementing nutrients taken from food are sold in various forms. For example, supplements are sold in stores and online shopping websites. When purchasing supplements at such places, it is common for a user to select a supplement according to the nutrients he or she wants to take and take the amount of the supplement according to the amount of the nutrients he or she wants to take.

[0003] Also, a method is known for determining the amount and supplements to be sold to a user based on information about the user. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses estimating the deficiency or excess of a certain nutrient based on the user's sex, age, diet, health condition, etc., and calculating the type and prescribed amount of supplements to be prescribed for the nutrient deficiency, and displaying the prescribed amount. Patent Document 1 also discloses that when a user orders supplements to make up for a nutrient deficiency, the supplements are packaged and shipped in units of one day's worth on the same day or the next day, so that custom-made supplements are supplied to the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-16192 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, after the supplement is delivered to the user, the amount of nutrients consumed by the user at each meal varies. For example, the supplement may be consumed at a meal where the intake of the corresponding nutrient is insufficient. On the other hand, if the user consumes the supplement at a meal where the intake of the appropriate amount of the nutrient is insufficient, the user may consume the supplement, which may result in overnutrition. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to consume the supplement at every meal.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and one example of its objective is to provide a supplement management device and a supplement management method that enable a user to ingest an appropriate amount of nutrients by sending supplements to the user as a dietary supplement. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] (Application Example 1) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized by comprising: a determination means for determining the planned intake timings of a predetermined number of intakes of supplements to be shipped to a user, for the number of intakes; an acquisition means for acquiring meal information indicating the meal ingested by the user at a timing corresponding to any of the determined intake timings; a determination means for determining whether or not the supplement needs to be taken based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired meal information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a predetermined target nutrient amount; and a transmission means for transmitting determination information indicating the determination result of whether or not the supplement needs to be taken to a terminal device of the user.

[0008] According to this application example, a timing is determined for the user to take the supplements shipped to the user. The supplements shipped to the user are supplements for a predetermined number of times. Therefore, the timing is determined for each intake for the number of times. After the supplements are shipped, when meal information indicating a meal taken by the user at a timing corresponding to one of the determined intake timings is acquired, whether or not the supplement needs to be taken is determined based on the nutrient amount of the meal, the nutrient amount of the supplement, and the target nutrient amount. Determination information indicating the determination result is transmitted to the terminal device of the user. This makes it possible to provide the user with information for determining whether or not to take the supplements. Therefore, the supplements shipped to the user can be used as a dietary supplement to allow the user to take an appropriate amount of nutrients.

[0009] (Application Example 2) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized in that the supplements are repeatedly shipped to the user at intervals of days, and the determination means determines the number of times the supplement will be taken next to be shipped so that the number of times of intake is reduced depending on the number of times it is determined that intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary, determines the intake timing for the determined number of times of intake, and ships the supplement for the determined number of times of intake.

[0010] According to this application example, the more times it is determined that the intake of the already delivered supplement is unnecessary, the smaller the amount of the supplement to be delivered next. Therefore, the supplement can be delivered while preventing the user from having excess supplements left over after delivery to the user.

[0011] (Application Example 3) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized in that the determination means estimates the remaining number of times to take the shipped supplement at each specified timing based on the judgment result of whether or not the supplement is needed, and determines the number of times to take the next shipped supplement before the estimated remaining number of times to take falls below the number of times that corresponds to the period required for delivery of the supplement.

[0012] According to this application example, the remaining number of times to take the supplement is estimated based on the result of the determination of whether or not the supplement needs to be taken. Since supplements are usually taken at each intake timing, the remaining number of times to take the supplement decreases as time passes. However, the number of times to take the supplement does not decrease for the intake timing at which it is determined that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary. Then, the number of times to take the supplement to be shipped next is determined before the remaining number of times to take the supplement falls below the number of times to take the supplement according to the period required for delivery of the supplement. After this determination, the supplement is shipped and delivered to the user. During that time, the previously delivered supplement remains at the user's hand. Therefore, it is possible to delay the shipment of the supplement while preventing the user from running out of the supplement. Therefore, it is possible to ship the supplement efficiently.

[0013] (Application Example 4) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized in that it further includes a benefit determination means that decides to grant a benefit to the user when it is determined that intake of the supplement is unnecessary.

[0014] According to this application example, when a user takes a diet that does not require the intake of supplements, the user is given a privilege, and therefore, the user can be encouraged to take an appropriate diet.

[0015] (Application Example 5) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized in that the acquisition means may acquire the meal information indicating a meal ingested by the user before the intake timing is determined by the determination means, and the determination means further determines the contents of the supplement including at least one of the supplement to be shipped and the amount of the supplement per intake based on the first nutrient amount and the target nutrient amount of the meal ingested before the intake timing is determined.

[0016] According to this application example, the contents of the supplements to be shipped are determined based on the user's past meals, so that it is possible to provide the user with supplements appropriate for the user.

[0017] (Application Example 6) The supplement management device of this application example further includes a change means for changing the intake timing at which it is determined that intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary, and the determination means is characterized in that it determines whether or not intake of the supplement is necessary when the timing at which the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information was consumed by the user corresponds to any of a plurality of intake timings including the intake timing determined by the determination means and the intake timing changed by the change means.

[0018] According to this application example, when it is determined that the intake of supplements is unnecessary for a meal at a timing corresponding to any of the intake timings, the intake timing is changed. Even if the user takes a meal at a timing corresponding to the changed intake timing, the necessity of taking supplements is determined. Therefore, the necessity of taking the supplements that are determined to be unnecessary can be determined again later.

[0019] (Application Example 7) The supplement management device of this application example is characterized in that the acquisition means acquires the dietary information from the terminal device and identifies the timing when the dietary information was acquired as the timing when the user consumed the meal.

[0020] According to this application example, if the timing at which the dietary information is acquired from the user's terminal device corresponds to any of the determined intake timings, the necessity of taking a supplement is determined. Therefore, the determination result of the necessity of taking a supplement can be presented to the user at an appropriate timing when the intake of the supplement is scheduled.

[0021] (Application Example 8) The supplement management method according to this application example is a supplement management method executed by a computer, and includes the following steps: a determination step of determining the planned intake timings for a predetermined number of intakes of supplements to be shipped to a user, for the number of intakes; an acquisition step of acquiring dietary information indicating the meal ingested by the user at a timing corresponding to any of the determined intake timings; a judgment step of determining whether or not the supplement needs to be taken based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a predetermined target nutrient amount; and a transmission step of transmitting judgment information indicating the judgment result of whether or not the supplement needs to be taken to a terminal device of the user. Effect of the Invention

[0022] According to the present invention, the supplements delivered to the user can be used as a dietary supplement to allow the user to ingest an appropriate amount of nutrients. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a communication system S according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 13 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a database of the supplement management server 1. FIG. [Figure 4]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of a system control unit 11 in a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of determining a planned timing for taking supplements. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of changing the planned timing of taking supplements. [Figure 7] 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating examples of display of determination result information and change information. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of determining a planned timing for taking supplements. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a first supplement information determination process by a system control unit 11 of a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of an intake necessity determination process performed by a system control unit 11 of a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a second supplement information determination process by a system control unit 11 of a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of determining the shipping timing of supplements. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a second supplement information determination process by a system control unit 11 of a supplement management server 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of determining a planned timing for taking supplements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] [1. First embodiment] [1-1. Communication system configuration] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration and functional overview of a communication system S according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a communication system S according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system S includes a supplement management server 1, at least one shipping terminal 2, a point management server 3, and a plurality of user terminals 4. These devices are connected to a network NW. The network NW is constructed, for example, by the Internet, a dedicated communication line (for example, a CATV (Community Antenna Television) line), a mobile communication network (including base stations, etc.), and a gateway, etc.

[0025] The supplement management server 1 may be a server device that executes processing related to a predetermined supplement delivery service. The supplement delivery service may be a service for delivering supplements according to a user's nutritional goals. This supplement delivery service may be a service for repeatedly shipping supplements to the same user at intervals of days. For example, the supplements may be shipped periodically. The supplements may be at least one of food and beverages for supplementing the user's nutrition. For convenience, in this embodiment, a case in which tablet and capsule supplements are provided will be described, but other forms of supplements may be provided. The supplement management server 1 may determine the contents of the supplements to be shipped to the user. In addition, the supplement management server 1 may transmit information required for shipping the supplements to the shipping terminal 2. In addition, the supplement management server 1 may acquire meal record information from each user terminal 4. The meal record information may be information indicating meals taken by the user using the user terminal 4. The supplement management server 1 may determine whether or not the user needs to take the supplements shipped to the user based on the meal record information. The supplement management server 1 may cause the user terminal 4 to present the determination result of whether or not the user needs to take the supplements. For example, if the nutrients necessary to achieve a nutritional goal are sufficiently ingested through meals, there is no need to take supplements. By presenting the judgment result of the necessity of intake, it is possible to prevent over-intake of nutrients. Furthermore, the supplement management server 1 may decide to grant a privilege to the user in response to the judgment that the intake of supplements is unnecessary. By granting a privilege, it is possible to encourage the user to be careful about their diet. Examples of privileges include points in a point program, electronic money, cash, coupons, and prizes.

[0026] The shipping terminal 2 may be a terminal device to be used when shipping supplements to a user. The shipping terminal 2 may be placed at a predetermined shipping location. Examples of shipping locations include a store that sells supplements, a warehouse of a business that manufactures or sells supplements, etc. For example, the shipping terminal 2 may display information transmitted from the supplement management server 1 regarding the shipping of supplements. An employee of the store or business may perform the task of shipping the supplements based on the information displayed on the shipping terminal 2. Examples of the shipping terminal 2 include a personal computer, a tablet computer, etc. Software such as a web browser and an email client may be installed on the shipping terminal 2.

[0027] The point management server 3 may be a server device that manages points owned by each user who can use a specific point program. The point program may be a service that grants points to a user who purchases a transaction object, the points being a predetermined percentage of the purchase price, and allows the user to use the points owned by the user to pay for the transaction object. The transaction object may be anything that can be traded. Examples of the transaction object include products and services. Users may be able to earn and use points in online services and in stores. Users who can use the supplement delivery service may also be able to use the point program. The number of points owned by each user is called the number of available points. The point management server 3 may store the number of available points for each user. The point management server 3 may update the number of available points for a user according to the acquisition and use of points by the user.

[0028] Each user terminal 4 is a terminal device used by a user who can use the supplement delivery service. Examples of the user terminal 4 include a personal computer, a set-top box, a smartphone, other mobile phones, a wearable computer, a tablet computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and the like. A web browser may be installed in each user terminal 4. A dedicated application for using the supplement delivery service may be installed in each user terminal 4. Each user terminal 4 may receive information transmitted from the supplement management server 1 according to the web browser or the dedicated application, and display the information on the screen.

[0029] [1-2. Configuration of supplement management server] Next, the configuration of the supplement management server 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the supplement management server 1 includes a system control unit 11, a system bus 12, an input / output interface 13, a storage unit 14, and a communication unit 15. The system control unit 11 and the input / output interface 13 are connected via the system bus 12.

[0030] The system control unit 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11a, a read only memory (ROM) 11b, a random access memory (RAM) 11c, and the like.

[0031] The input / output interface 13 performs interface processing between the storage unit 14 and the communication unit 15 and the system control unit 11 .

[0032] The storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. This storage unit 14 may store databases such as a user DB 14a, a supplement DB 14b, a food and drink DB 14c, a diet record DB 14d, a number of days required for delivery DB 14e, a supplement shipping DB 14f, a supplement intake schedule DB 14g, and a number of times supplement intake is not required DB 14h. "DB" is an abbreviation for database. At least one database may be stored in a server device different from the supplement management server 1. The supplement management server 1 may be able to access the database via the server device.

[0033] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the supplement management server 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the user DB 14a may store user information on each user who can use the supplement delivery service. For example, the user DB 14a may store user ID, name, date of birth, sex, address, telephone number, email address, nutritional goal information, and the like, as user information, in association with each other. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user. The nutritional goal information may be information indicating, for example, a goal of the nutritional intake per meal by the user. For example, the nutritional goal information may include a nutrient ID and target intake information for each of one or more nutrients that need to be ingested to achieve the goal. The nutrient ID is identification information for identifying a nutrient. The target intake information indicates a target nutrient amount for the intake of a nutrient. For example, the target intake information may indicate a lower limit value of the amount of a nutrient to be ingested. Also, for example, the target intake information may indicate a range of the amount of a nutrient to be ingested.

[0034] The supplement DB 14b may store supplement information regarding each supplement that can be shipped by the supplement delivery service. For example, the supplement DB 14b may store, as supplement information, a supplement ID, a supplement name, and nutrient-containing information, etc., in association with one another. The supplement ID is identification information for identifying a supplement. The nutrient-containing information is information regarding the nutrients contained in the supplement per tablet. For example, the nutrient-containing information may include the amount of nutrients contained in the supplement for each of a plurality of predetermined nutrients. The amount of nutrients not contained in the supplement is set to zero.

[0035] The food and drink DB 14c may store food and drink information about each food and drink. For example, the food and drink DB 14c may store food and drink IDs, food and drink names, and nutrient-containing information, etc., as food and drink information, in association with one another. The food and drink ID is identification information for identifying a food or drink. The nutrient-containing information is information about nutrients contained in the food or drink. For example, the nutrient-containing information may include the amount of nutrients contained in the food or drink for each of a plurality of predetermined nutrients. The amount of nutrients not contained in the food or drink is zero.

[0036] The meal record DB 14d may store meal record information indicating meals taken by each user. For example, the meal record DB 14d may store, as meal record information, a meal ID, a user ID, information acquisition date and time, meal timing information, food and drink information, and nutrition intake information, etc., in association with each other. The meal ID is identification information for identifying a meal. The user ID indicates the user who took the meal. The information acquisition date and time indicates the date and time when the supplement management server 1 acquired the meal record information from the user terminal 4. The meal timing information indicates the timing when the meal was taken. For example, the meal timing information may include a meal date and a meal category. The meal date indicates the date when the meal was taken. The meal category indicates the category of the taken meal. The meal category may be set to any one of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food and drink information indicates the food and drink taken in the meal. For example, the food and drink information may include a food and drink ID for each of the taken foods and drinks. The nutrition intake information indicates the nutrition intake amount for each nutrient that is assumed to be taken by the user in the meal. For example, the nutritional intake information may include, for each of a plurality of predetermined nutrients, the intake amount of the nutrient in the meal, with the nutrient amount being zero for any nutrient not ingested in the meal.

[0037] The number of days required for delivery of the supplement may be stored in the number of days required for delivery of the supplement for each prefecture of the delivery destination in the number of days required for delivery of the supplement. The number of days required for delivery of the supplement may be the number of days required from when the supplement delivery information and the supplement intake schedule information described later are determined and the delivery of the supplement is determined, through the delivery of the supplement at the delivery location, until the supplement is delivered to the user's address. The number of days required for delivery may be counted including the day of delivery of the supplement. The number of days required for delivery may be set to be longer than the actual number of days required for delivery. For example, the prefecture ID and the number of days required for delivery may be stored in the number of days required for delivery ...

[0038] The supplement shipping DB 14f may store supplement shipping information related to the shipping of each supplement. For example, the supplement shipping DB 14f may store, as supplement shipping information, a shipping ID, a user ID, the number of shipments, a decision date, a supplement ID, a single serving amount, the number of packages, a scheduled shipping date, a fee, a scheduled start date of intake, and a scheduled end date of intake, in association with each other. The shipping ID is identification information for identifying the shipment of the supplement. The user ID indicates the user to whom the supplement is to be shipped. The number of shipments indicates how many times the supplement has been shipped to the user, including the current shipment. The decision date indicates the date on which the supplement shipping information was decided. The supplement ID indicates the shipped supplement. The single serving amount indicates how many tablets of the supplement are taken per intake. When there are multiple types of supplements to be shipped, a combination of the supplement ID and the single serving amount may be stored in the supplement shipping DB 14f for each supplement. The number of packages indicates the number of packages in which the shipped supplement is placed. For example, one or multiple types of supplements to be shipped may be packed into a predetermined package for each serving amount. For example, information indicating the planned timing of intake of the supplement contained in the package may be written or printed on the surface of the package. The information indicating the planned timing of intake of the supplement may include, for example, the planned date of intake and the planned time period of intake among morning, afternoon, and evening. The user will take the supplements contained in one package together for each intake. Therefore, the user will take the supplements a number of times corresponding to the number of packages. The planned intake start date indicates the date on which the first intake of the shipped supplement is planned. For example, the planned intake start date may be a day after the date on which the shipped supplement is scheduled to be delivered. The planned intake end date indicates the date on which the last intake of the shipped supplement is scheduled. For example, the planned intake end date may be determined based on the planned intake start date and the number of packages. Since the number of times of intake of the supplement per day is predetermined, it is possible to specify how many days' worth of the supplement has been shipped. For example, the supplement is taken three times in total when the user has breakfast, lunch, and dinner.For certain supplements, the intake may be specified as once a day.

[0039] The supplement intake schedule DB 14g may store supplement intake schedules related to the planned intake of supplements that have been shipped or will be shipped, for each planned intake. For example, the supplement intake schedule DB 14g may store a user ID, a supplement ID, a single serving amount, and information on the planned timing of supplement intake, etc., in association with each other, as a supplement intake schedule. The user ID indicates the user who plans to take the supplement. The supplement ID indicates the supplement that is planned to be taken. The single serving amount indicates how many tablets of the supplement are planned to be taken. The planned timing information of supplement intake indicates the timing when the supplement is planned to be taken. The planned timing information of supplement intake may include a planned intake date and a planned intake meal category. The planned intake date indicates the date when the supplement is planned to be taken. The planned intake meal category indicates for which meal category the supplement is planned to be taken.

[0040] The number of times when it was determined that the intake of the supplement was unnecessary may be stored in the number of times DB14h when the intake of the supplement was unnecessary for each user to whom the supplement was delivered. For example, the number of times when the intake of the supplement was unnecessary DB14h may store the user ID and the number of times when the intake of the supplement was unnecessary in association with each other.

[0041] The storage unit 14 further stores various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS (Database Management System), and a server program. The server program is a program that causes the system control unit 11 to execute processing related to the supplement delivery service. The server program may be obtained from another device via a network NW, or may be recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, an optical disk, or a memory card and read via a drive device.

[0042] The communication unit 15 is configured, for example, by a network interface card, etc. The communication unit 15 connects to devices such as the shipping terminal 2, the point management server 3, or the user terminal 4 via the network NW, and controls the communication state with the connected devices.

[0043] [1-3. Functionality Overview] Next, a functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the supplement management server 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 4 to Fig. 8. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. The system control unit 11 may function as a nutritional goal setting unit 1101, a diet record information acquisition unit 1102, a supplement information determination unit 1103, an information provision unit 1104, an intake necessity determination unit 1105, an intake timing change unit 1106, a benefit determination unit 1107, and the like, as shown in Fig. 4, by the CPU 11a reading and executing various program codes included in the server program.

[0044] [1-3-1. First shipment of supplements] The nutritional goal setting unit 1101 may set nutritional goal information of the user in advance. For example, the nutritional goal setting unit 1101 may determine a recommended nutrient amount for one or more nutrients recommended to the user according to the attributes of the user. Examples of the attributes of the user include gender, age, height, and weight. For example, the nutritional goal setting unit 1101 may specify a nutritional theme of the user. The nutritional theme may indicate, for example, a theme or purpose for the user to improve his or her diet. Examples of nutritional themes include "diet," "build muscle," and "take a balanced diet." The nutritional goal setting unit 1101 may determine a target nutrient amount for one or more nutrients for the user to achieve the purpose. The nutritional goal setting unit 1101 may generate nutritional goal information indicating the determined nutritional goal, and store this nutritional goal information in the user DB 14a in association with the user ID of the user.

[0045] The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may acquire the meal record information. For example, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may acquire the meal record information from the user terminal 4. When the user eats a meal, the user may input information on the food and drink consumed in the meal to the user terminal 4. For example, the user may search for food and drink by keyword search or the like, and select the food and drink included in the meal from the search results. The user terminal 4 may transmit food and drink information including the food and drink ID of the selected food and drink, and the meal record information including the user ID of the user, to the supplement management server 1. The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 that acquires the meal record information may specify the timing at which the meal record information was acquired as the timing at which the user ate the meal. At this time, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine the meal timing information based on the timing at which the meal record information was acquired. For example, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine the date on which the meal record information was acquired as the meal date. In addition, the time periods for morning, afternoon, and evening may be determined in advance. For example, the time period from 6:00 to 12:00 may be morning, the time period from 12:00 to 18:00 may be lunch, and the time period from 18:00 to 0:00 may be evening. The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine which meal the user has eaten among breakfast, lunch, and dinner, based on which time period the time when the meal record information is acquired is included in. For example, breakfast corresponds to the morning time period, lunch corresponds to the daytime time period, and dinner corresponds to the evening time period. The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine nutrient intake information based on food and drink information included in the meal record information. For example, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may acquire nutrient-containing information associated with each food and drink ID included in the food and drink information from the food and drink DB 14c for each food and drink ID included in the food and drink information. The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may calculate the nutrition intake amount by adding up the amount of nutrients contained for each nutrient based on the nutrient-containing information. The meal record information acquiring unit 1102 may add the acquisition date and time of the meal record information, meal timing information, and nutrient intake information to the meal record information acquired from the user terminal 4, and store the information in the meal record DB 14d.

[0046] The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine information about the supplement to be shipped to the user. The determined information may include, for example, supplement shipping information. When a supplement is shipped to the user for the first time, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the contents of the supplement to be shipped. The contents of the supplement may include the supplement itself and the amount of the supplement per serving. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the contents of the supplement based on, for example, the nutritional goal information determined by the nutritional goal setting unit 1101 and the meal record information acquired by the meal record information acquisition unit 1102. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may specify the user's past eating habits, nutritional intake tendency, etc. based on, for example, the meal record information acquired by the meal record information acquisition unit 1102. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may use the meal record information of meals taken by the user during a predetermined period in the past, or may use the meal record information of meals taken a predetermined number of times or more in the past. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may compare the target nutrient amount and the nutrient intake amount for each nutrient for which a target nutrient amount is set, for each meal. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate the number of meals in which the nutritional intake amount was less than the target nutrient amount for each nutrient. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine a nutrient for which the ratio of the number of meals in which the nutritional intake amount was less than the target nutrient amount to the number of meals taken by the user in a predetermined period is equal to or greater than a predetermined value as a nutrient to be supplemented with a supplement. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate an average value of the difference between the nutritional intake amount and the target nutrient amount for meals in which the nutritional intake amount was less than the target nutrient amount. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine this average value as the amount of the nutrient to be supplemented with a supplement. Alternatively, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate an average nutritional intake amount of each nutrient in meals taken by the user in a predetermined period. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine a nutrient for which the average nutritional intake amount is less than the target nutrient amount as a nutrient to be supplemented with a supplement. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the difference between the average nutritional intake amount and the target nutrient amount as the amount of the nutrient to be supplemented with a supplement.When the nutrient and the amount of nutrient are determined, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine a supplement to supplement the nutrient from the supplement DB 14b and determine the amount of the nutrient to supplement the amount of the nutrient. If it is necessary to take multiple types of supplements, the supplement and the amount of the supplement may be determined for each type.

[0047] The information determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103 may include, for example, supplement intake schedule information. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the intake timing at which the user is scheduled to take a predetermined number of intakes of the supplement to be shipped to the user, for the number of intakes. The determined intake timing may be, for example, a timing after the shipment of the supplement. The number of intakes corresponds to the number of packages of the supplement in one shipment. The number of packages of the first supplement may be determined in advance. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake start date and planned intake end date of the shipped supplement, for example, based on the date and time when the information is determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103, that is, the current date and time. After the information is determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103, the supplement is prepared for shipment at the shipping location, and the supplement is shipped. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake start date to be, for example, a date that is a number of days after the current time for delivery. Alternatively, the planned intake start date may be specified by the user. In this case, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine information at a timing when the supplement can be delivered by the day before the planned intake start date. By dividing the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped by the number of intakes per day, it is possible to specify how many days' worth of supplements will be shipped. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake end date to be the day before a date calculated by adding the number of days to the planned intake start date. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the timing of each meal between the planned intake end date and the planned intake start date as the planned intake timing of the supplement.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of determining the planned timing of taking supplements. For example, the user performs the procedure for using the supplement delivery service and starts inputting the contents of meals from January 23rd as shown in FIG. 5. For example, it is assumed that one week's worth of meal record information is used to determine the nutritional goal. Therefore, the user inputs three meals every day from January 23rd to January 29th. The supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the contents of the supplements to be shipped, for example, in the early hours of January 30th, based on the meal record information from January 23rd to January 29th. For example, the supplement and the amount per serving are determined to be P1 and N1, respectively. It is assumed that the initial value of the number of packages is 21 pieces. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned timing of taking the supplements for 21 servings. It is assumed that the number of days required for delivery is 2 days. Therefore, the supplements are delivered the day after the day the supplements are shipped. Therefore, when the supplement P1 is shipped from the shipping location on January 30th, the supplement P1 is delivered to the user's address on January 31st. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake start date to be February 1. In this case, the planned intake end date is February 7. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timing of supplement P1 to be the timing of every meal from February 1 to February 7.

[0049] The supplement information determination unit 1103 may perform processing to instruct the shipment of supplements. For example, when the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the supplement shipping information, it may transmit the supplement shipping information to the shipping terminal 2. For example, the supplement shipping information may be transmitted at the timing when the supplement shipping information is determined. In response to receiving the supplement shipping information, the shipping terminal 2 may display the supplement shipping information on a screen. An employee at the shipping location views the supplement shipping information and starts the task of shipping the supplements.

[0050] The information providing unit 1104 may transmit information on the supplement delivery service to the user terminal 4. For example, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit information on the supplement delivery service as information on an email, a web page, or a dedicated application screen. When the supplement shipping information is determined by the supplement information determining unit 1103, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit shipping schedule information. The shipping schedule information may be information on the shipping schedule of the supplement. For example, the shipping schedule information may include the number of shipments, the shipping date, the supplements to be shipped and the amount per serving, the number of packages, the scheduled shipping date, the scheduled start date of intake, and the like. In addition, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit information indicating the scheduled intake timing determined by the supplement information determining unit 1103. For example, the information providing unit 1104 may display the planned intake of the supplement in a calendar format on a web page or a dedicated application screen.

[0051] [1-3-2. Deciding whether or not to take supplements] The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine whether or not the user needs to take the supplement according to the intake status of the user's meal after the supplement is shipped. As described above, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 acquires meal record information indicating the meal of the user. The meal record information acquisition unit 1102 can specify the timing of the meal. Therefore, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary when the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 acquires meal record information indicating a meal taken by the user at a timing corresponding to any of the planned intake timings determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103 for the supplement. The meal timing corresponding to the planned intake timing of the supplement may be, for example, a time period including the timing of the meal taken among the time periods of morning, afternoon, and evening, which corresponds to a time period including the planned intake timing of the supplement. The planned intake timing of the supplement is indicated by the supplement intake plan information determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103. Therefore, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may use the supplement intake schedule information to determine whether the meal timing corresponds to any of the scheduled intake timings. Since the scheduled start date of the supplement intake is after the delivery of the supplement, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary for meals after the delivery of the supplement for the first shipment.

[0052] The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine whether or not to take a supplement based on, for example, the amount of nutritional intake from a meal indicated by the meal record information, the amount of nutrients contained in one serving (or one package) of the shipped supplement, and the target amount of nutrients. At this time, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may specify the amount of nutrients contained in the supplement using the content of the supplement included in the supplement intake schedule information indicating the planned intake timing according to the timing of the meal.

[0053] The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine whether the user takes a supplement or does not take a supplement, which is closer to the nutritional goal. For example, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may calculate the estimated nutritional intake by adding the nutritional intake from food and the nutrient amount contained in the supplement for a nutrient for which a target nutrient amount is set. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may calculate the absolute value of the difference between the target nutrient amount and the nutritional intake as the actual intake difference, and may calculate the absolute value of the difference between the target nutrient amount and the estimated nutrient intake as the estimated intake difference. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine that the intake of a supplement is necessary if the actual intake difference is larger than the estimated intake difference. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine that the intake of a supplement is unnecessary if the actual intake difference is smaller than the estimated intake difference. When there are multiple nutrients for which target nutrient amounts are set, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may, for example, calculate the actual intake difference and the estimated intake difference for each nutrient, and calculate the ratio of each of the actual intake difference and the estimated intake difference to the target nutrient amount. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may determine the necessity of taking a supplement based on the magnitude of a vector including the ratio of the actual intake difference of multiple nutrients and the magnitude of a vector including the ratio of the estimated intake difference of multiple nutrients.

[0054] There may be a case where the user does not transmit the meal record information for a certain meal to the supplement management server 1. In this case, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 does not need to determine the necessity of taking a supplement at the planned intake timing according to the meal timing. The system control unit 11 may consider that the user has taken a supplement for a meal for which the meal record information has not been acquired or for which the necessity of taking a supplement has not been determined.

[0055] The information providing unit 1104 may transmit determination information indicating the determination result of the intake necessity determination unit 1105 as to the necessity of taking a supplement to the user terminal 4 of the user who has taken the meal indicated by the meal record information acquired by the meal record information acquisition unit 1102. In this way, the information providing unit 1104 may cause the user terminal 4 to present the determination result. If the determination result indicates that intake of a supplement is necessary, the user is assumed to take the supplement. If the determination result indicates that intake of a supplement is not necessary, the user is assumed to not take the supplement.

[0056] The intake timing change unit 1106 may change the planned intake timing of the supplement that is determined by the intake necessity determination unit 1105 to be unnecessary. By changing the planned intake timing, the intake necessity of the supplement that is presumed not to have been taken by the user at the planned intake timing before the change can be determined again at the meal timing according to the changed planned intake timing. More specifically, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 determines the necessity of taking the supplement when the timing at which the meal record information is acquired by the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 corresponds to any one of a plurality of planned intake timings including the planned intake timing determined by the supplement information determination unit 1103 and the planned intake timing changed by the intake timing change unit 1106.

[0057] When changing the planned intake timing, the intake timing change unit 1106 may, for example, set the changed planned intake timing to the timing next to the latest planned intake timing at the present time. The intake timing change unit 1106 may change the planned intake timing, for example, when the dietary record information is acquired. Alternatively, the intake timing change unit 1106 may change the planned intake timing at the same timing when the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timing for the next shipment of supplements.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a change in the planned timing of intake of a supplement. After the planned intake timing is determined as shown in FIG. 5, the user resumes inputting the contents of the meal from February 1st. As a result, it is determined that the intake of the supplement P1 is necessary in the morning and afternoon of February 1st. Next, it is determined that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary in the evening of February 1st. The latest planned intake timing at this time is the evening of February 7th. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the planned intake timing of the supplement P1 in the evening of February 1st may be changed to the morning of February 8th. Next, it is determined that the intake of the supplement in the morning of February 2nd is unnecessary. In this case, the planned intake timing may be changed to the afternoon of February 8th. Next, it is determined that the intake of the supplement in the afternoon of February 2nd is necessary, and then it is determined that the intake of the supplement P1 in the evening of February 2nd is unnecessary. In this case, the planned intake timing may be changed to the evening ...

[0059] When the planned intake timing is changed, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit change information indicating the changed planned intake timing to the user terminal 4. For example, when the planned intake timing is changed at the time when the meal record information is acquired, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit the change information together with the determination result information.

[0060] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the determination result information and the change information. For example, when the user transmits the dietary record information to the supplement management server 1 using a dedicated application, the user terminal 4 may display, for example, a screen 100 shown in FIG. 7. The screen 100 may include the determination result information 110 and the change information 120. For example, a message such as "No need to take supplements" may be displayed as the determination result information 110. For example, a message such as "Take the one labeled 'February 1st night' on February 8th morning" may be displayed as the change information 120. If it is determined that the intake of supplements is necessary, a message such as "Please take supplements" may be displayed as the determination result information 110, while the change information 120 may not be displayed.

[0061] When the intake necessity determination unit 1105 determines that the intake of supplements is unnecessary, the benefit determination unit 1107 may determine to give a benefit to the user who has taken the meal indicated by the meal record information acquired by the meal record information acquisition unit 1102. Examples of the benefit include points of a point program, electronic money, cash, coupons, and prizes. For example, the benefit determination unit 1107 may determine to give a benefit each time it is determined that the intake of supplements is unnecessary. Alternatively, the benefit determination unit 1107 may determine to give a benefit when the number of times that the intake of supplements is determined to be unnecessary reaches a predetermined number. Alternatively, the benefit determination unit 1107 may determine to give a benefit each time a predetermined period has passed, when it is determined that the intake of supplements is unnecessary for at least one meal during that period. The predetermined period may be, for example, a period from the time when the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timing for the previous shipment of supplements to the time when the planned intake timing for the current shipment of supplements is determined. Alternatively, the predetermined period may be a period from a planned start date to a planned end date of intake of the previous shipment of supplements. Alternatively, the predetermined period may be one week from a specific day of the week, one month from the beginning of the month, etc. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the value of the privilege to be granted according to the number of times that it is determined that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary during the predetermined period. For example, the value of the privilege may be higher as the number of times that it is determined that the intake is unnecessary increases. The privilege determination unit 1107 may determine whether or not to grant the privilege by a random method such as a lottery. Here, the privilege determination unit 1107 may increase the probability of granting the privilege as the number of times that it is determined that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary during the predetermined period increases. When it is determined that the privilege is granted, the privilege determination unit 1107 may execute a process of actually granting the privilege to the user. When the privilege is points, the privilege determination unit 1107 may, for example, make a request to the point management server 3 to increase the number of available points of the user.

[0062] When it is determined that a bonus is to be granted, the information providing unit 1104 may transmit a bonus granting notice indicating that the bonus is to be granted to the user terminal 4 of the user to whom the bonus is to be granted. In response to this, the information providing unit 1104 may cause the user terminal 4 to present bonus information. The bonus granting notice may include, for example, at least one of the type and value of the bonus to be granted.

[0063] [1-3-3. Shipping of supplements from the second order onwards] When supplements are repeatedly shipped to the same user at intervals, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake timing of the supplement to be shipped this time for each shipment of the supplement. For example, when supplements are shipped periodically, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may also perform the determination periodically. When supplements are shipped periodically, the interval may be an interval of a length corresponding to the number of packages of the supplement shipped initially. This interval is called a shipping interval. For example, when the number of packages initially is 21, the shipping interval is one week, and the cycle of the determination of the planned intake timing by the supplement information determination unit 1103 may also be one week. When supplements are shipped periodically, the planned intake start date of each shipment of supplements can be specified in advance. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may execute the determination of the planned intake timing, for example, at a timing when the supplement can be delivered before the planned intake start date.

[0064] If it is determined that it is not necessary to take the supplement at at least one of the planned intake timings determined for the previously shipped supplement, the planned intake timing will be changed as described above. In this case, the supplement information determination unit 1103 and the intake timing change unit 1106 may make multiple planned intake timings, including the planned intake timing of the current shipment of supplements and the changed planned intake timing, continuous with the planned intake timing determined for the previous shipment of supplements. In this case, either the planned intake timing of the next shipment of supplements or the changed planned intake timing may be earlier. If the contents of the next shipment of supplements are different from the contents of the previously shipped supplements, the changed planned intake timing may be earlier than the planned intake timing of the next shipment of supplements.

[0065] The supplement information determination unit 1103 may further determine the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped this time. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped next, so that the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped next is reduced according to the number of times that the intake necessity determination unit 1105 has determined that the intake of the supplement shipped last time is unnecessary. For example, if the number of packages of the supplement shipped initially is set as the initial value of the number of packages, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped next by subtracting the number of times that it has been determined that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary from the initial value. This makes it possible to regularly ship supplements while preventing the user from having excess of the shipped supplements. This is economical or efficient for the user.

[0066] For supplements shipped the second time or later, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the contents of the supplement again, or may maintain the contents of the supplement determined at the time of the first shipment. When determining the contents of the supplement again, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the contents of the supplement using, for example, diet record information acquired after the timing at which the planned intake timing of the supplement was determined last time.

[0067] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of determining the planned intake timing of a supplement. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, after the planned intake timing of the supplement P1 to be shipped for the first time is determined, the supplement P1 is delivered to the user. The user inputs the contents of meals from February 1, which is the planned start date of intake of the supplement P1, and confirms the necessity of taking the supplement P1. The planned start date of intake of the supplement P1 is February 1, and the initial value of the number of packages is 21. Therefore, assuming that it has never been determined that the intake of the supplement P1 is unnecessary, the planned start date of intake of the supplement to be shipped for the second time is February 8. Therefore, the supplement will be shipped next on February 6. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the contents and planned intake timing of the supplement to be shipped for the second time, for example, in the early hours of February 6. The planned intake timing of the supplement P1 was determined to be in the early hours of January 30. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the content and number of packages of the supplement to be shipped the second time based on the result of the determination of whether or not the supplement is required to be taken at the planned intake timing according to the timing of meals between the morning of January 30th and the evening of February 5th, for example. However, the intake of the supplement is not scheduled on January 30th and 31st. Therefore, the determination of the number of packages will essentially take into account the determination results from the morning of February 1st to the evening of February 5th. As shown in FIG. 8, it was determined that the intake of the supplement P1 was unnecessary for five meals out of 15 meals between the morning of February 1st and the evening of February 5th. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped the second time to be 16. In addition, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the supplement and the amount per serving to be shipped the second time to be P2 and N2, respectively, based on the meals between the morning of February 1st and the evening of February 5th. The supplement P2 may be the same as or different from P1. Also, the single dose N2 may be the same as or different from N1. As shown in Fig. 8, the intake timing change unit 1106 changed the planned intake timings for the five doses for which it was determined that intake of the supplement P1 was unnecessary to the timings from the morning of February 8th to the afternoon of February 9th.The supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timings for 16 times. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timings of supplement P2 to be from the evening of February 9th to the evening of February 14th. Note that, among the planned intake timings of supplement P1 shipped initially, the planned intake timing from the morning of February 6th to the afternoon of February 9th has not yet been determined as to whether or not supplement P1 needs to be taken. It may be determined that the intake of supplement P1 is unnecessary for any of these planned intake timings. In this case, the intake timing change unit 1106 may change the planned intake timing to a timing after the morning of February 15th.

[0068] [1-4. Operation of communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system will be described with reference to Figs. 9 to 11. The system control unit 11 of the supplement management server 1 may execute the processes shown in Figs. 9 to 11 according to various program codes included in the server program. The processes shown in these figures are examples, and any process may be executed as long as the purpose is achieved. The order of the processes is not limited to the order shown in these figures. In addition, at least one of the steps shown in these figures may not be executed.

[0069] 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a first supplement information determination process by the system control unit 11 of the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. For example, a user performs a procedure to start using a supplement delivery service. After that, the user inputs the details of each meal, for example, and the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 acquires the meal record information from the user terminal 4 of the user and stores it in the meal record DB 14d. The system control unit 11 may execute the first supplement information determination process, for example, when a predetermined period has elapsed since the procedure to start using the supplement delivery service was performed.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 9, first, the nutritional goal setting unit 1101 determines nutritional goal information (step S101). The nutritional goal setting unit 1101 stores the determined nutritional goal information in the user DB 14a in association with the user ID of the target user. Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 acquires, from the meal record DB 14d, meal record information including the user ID of the user, including meal timing information indicating timing within a predetermined period in the past (step S102). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the supplement to be initially shipped and the serving amount of the supplement based on the nutritional goal information and the nutrient intake information included in the meal record information (step S103). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 sets the number of packages of the supplement to be initially shipped to the initial value of the number of packages (step S104). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 obtains the number of delivery days required from today until the supplement is delivered to the user's address based on the address of the target user from the number of delivery days DB 14e (step S105). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake start date of the supplement to be shipped to a date that is the number of delivery days from today (step S106). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timings for the number of packages to be a series of consecutive timings starting from the morning of the planned intake start date (step S107). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 sets the number of shipments to 1 (step S108). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 associates the user ID of the target user with the number of times that no intake is required, which indicates 0, and stores the association in the number of times that no intake is required DB 14h (step S109).

[0071] Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 generates supplement shipping information and stores it in the supplement shipping DB 14f (step S110). For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may generate supplement shipping information including the user ID of the target user, the number of shipments, a determination date indicating today's date, the supplement ID of the determined supplement, a single serving, the number of packages, a planned intake start date, and a planned intake end date specified from the initial values ​​of the planned intake start date and the number of packages. Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 generates planned intake timing information for each of the determined planned intake timings and stores it in the supplement intake schedule DB 14g (step S111). For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may generate planned intake timing information including the user ID of the target user, the supplement ID of the determined supplement, the determined single serving, and planned supplement intake timing information indicating the determined planned intake timing.

[0072] Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 transmits the generated supplement shipping information to the shipping terminal 2 (step S112). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 transmits the supplement shipping schedule information to the target user by email or by push notification to the user terminal 4 of the user (step S113), and the first supplement information determination process ends.

[0073] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the intake necessity determination process by the system control unit 11 of the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. For example, when the user inputs the details of the meal, the user terminal 4 transmits the meal record information to the supplement management server 1. In response to receiving the meal record information from the user terminal 4, the system control unit 11 may execute the intake necessity determination process.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 10, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 determines meal timing information indicating the timing of the meal based on the reception timing of the received meal record information (step S201). For example, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine the meal date to be the reception date of the meal record information. Also, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may determine the meal category to be a category corresponding to the time period including the time when the meal record information is received. Next, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 calculates the nutrient intake amount for each nutrient taken by the user in the meal based on the food and drink information included in the meal record information and the food and drink DB 14c (step S202). Next, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 stores the meal record information in the meal record DB 14d (step S202). At this time, the meal record information acquisition unit 1102 may add information acquisition date and time indicating the current date and time, meal timing information, and nutrient intake information indicating the nutrient intake amount for each nutrient to the meal record information to be stored.

[0075] Next, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 searches the supplement intake schedule DB 14g for supplement intake schedule information with planned intake timing corresponding to meal timing (step S204). For example, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may obtain the user ID of the target user from the meal record information. In addition, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may search for supplement intake schedule information including the supplement intake schedule information that includes this user ID and that includes supplement intake schedule timing information that matches the meal timing information. As a result of the search, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 determines whether or not there is corresponding supplement intake schedule information (step S205). If there is no corresponding supplement intake schedule information (step S205: NO), the intake necessity determination process ends.

[0076] If there is the corresponding supplement intake schedule information (step S205: YES), the intake necessity determination unit 1105 acquires nutritional goal information associated with the user ID of the target user from the user DB 14a (step S206). Next, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 calculates the amount of nutrients contained in one package of the supplement to be taken at a timing according to the meal timing (step S207). For example, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 may acquire a supplement ID and a single serving amount from the searched supplement intake schedule information. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may acquire the contained nutrient information associated with this supplement ID from the supplement DB. The intake necessity determination unit 1105 may calculate the contained nutrient amount per package by multiplying the nutrient amount included in the contained nutrient information by the single serving amount. Next, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 calculates the difference between the target nutrient amount included in the nutritional goal information and the nutrient intake amount as the actual intake difference (step S208). Next, the nutritional intake amount and the nutritional intake amount per package are added together to calculate the expected nutritional intake amount, and the difference between the target nutrient amount and this expected nutritional intake amount is calculated as the expected intake difference (step S209). Next, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 determines whether the actual intake difference is equal to or smaller than the expected intake difference (step S210). If the actual intake difference is larger than the expected intake difference (step S210: NO), the information providing unit 1104 transmits determination information indicating that the intake of a supplement is necessary to the user terminal 4 (step S211), and the intake necessity determination process ends.

[0077] If the actual intake difference is less than or equal to the expected intake difference (step S210: YES), the intake necessity determination unit 1105 increments the number of times supplement intake is not required stored in the supplement intake unnecessary count DB 14h in association with the user ID of the target user (step S212).

[0078] Next, the planned intake timing changing unit 1106 changes the planned intake timing of the supplement according to the timing of the meal (step S213). For example, the planned intake timing changing unit 1106 may search the supplement intake schedule DB 14g for supplement intake schedule information including the user ID of the target user, including the planned supplement intake timing information indicating the latest planned intake timing. The planned intake timing changing unit 1106 may change the planned supplement intake timing information included in the supplement intake schedule information searched in step S204 to indicate the timing next to the latest planned intake timing.

[0079] Next, the information providing unit 1104 transmits to the user terminal 4 determination information indicating that the intake of the supplement is unnecessary and change information indicating a change in the planned timing of intake of the supplement (step S214), and the intake necessity determination process ends.

[0080] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the second supplement information determination process by the system control unit 11 of the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. For example, the system control unit 11 may execute the second supplement information determination process for a user whose user ID is stored in the no-intake-count DB 14h at a predetermined time every day.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 11, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines whether the day after the number of days equivalent to the shipping interval from the previous determination date of the supplement shipping information and the supplement intake schedule information for the target user is today (step S301). For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may search the supplement shipping DB 14f for the supplement shipping information containing the user ID of the target user that has the latest determination date. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may make the determination based on the determination date included in the searched supplement shipping information. If the day after the number of days equivalent to the shipping interval from the previous determination date is not today (step S301: NO), the second supplement information determination process ends.

[0082] If the day after the previous determination date by the number of days equivalent to the shipping interval is today (step S301: YES), the supplement information determination unit 1103 acquires from the meal record DB 14d the meal record information including the user ID of the target user, including meal timing information indicating timing within a predetermined period in the past (step S302). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 acquires from the user DB 14a the nutritional goal information associated with the user ID of the user (step S303). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the supplement to be shipped this time and the serving amount of the supplement based on the nutritional goal information and the nutrient intake information included in the meal record information (step S304).

[0083] Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 acquires the number of times when supplements are not required to be taken that is stored in the supplement intake number DB 14h in association with the user ID of the target user (step S305). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 calculates the number of packages of supplements to be shipped this time by subtracting the number of times when supplements are not required to be taken from the initial value of the number of packages (step S306). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned intake timing for the number of packages (step S307). For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may search the supplement intake schedule DB 14g for supplement intake schedule information including the user ID of the target user, including planned supplement intake timing information indicating the latest planned intake timing. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake timing to be a series of timings that are continuous from the timing next to the latest planned intake timing. Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 increments the number of shipments by 1 (step S308).

[0084] Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 generates supplement shipping information and stores it in the supplement shipping DB 14f (step S309). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 generates planned intake timing information for each determined planned intake timing and stores it in the supplement intake schedule DB 14g (step S310). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 transmits the planned shipping information of the supplement to the user terminal 4 of the user (step S311). These processes may be the same as steps S110 to S112 of the first supplement information determination process.

[0085] Next, the benefit determination unit 1107 judges whether the number of times of no-intake stored in the no-intake number DB 14h in association with the user ID of the target user is 1 or more (step S312). If the number of times of no-intake is 0 (step S312: NO), the information provision unit 1104 transmits the shipping schedule information not including the benefit grant notification to the user terminal 4 of the target user (step S313), and the second supplement information determination process ends.

[0086] If the number of times of unnecessary intake is one or more (step S313: YE2), the benefit determination unit 1107 determines the number of benefit points according to the number of intakes (step S314). For example, the benefit determination unit 1107 may increase the number of benefit points as the number of intakes increases. Next, the benefit determination unit 1107 requests the point management server 3 to add the number of benefit points to the number of available points of the target user (step S315). For example, the benefit determination unit 1107 may transmit a point update request including the user ID and the number of benefit points of the target user to the point management server 3. The point management server 3 may update the number of available points by adding the number of benefit points included in the point update request to the number of available points stored in the point management server 3 in association with the user ID included in the point update request. Next, the information provision unit 1104 transmits the shipping schedule information including the benefit grant notification to the user terminal 4 of the target user (step S316). Next, the intake necessity determination unit 1105 changes the number of times that intake is not required stored in the intake no-cost DB 14h in association with the user ID of the target user to 0 (step S317), and the second supplement information determination process ends.

[0087] As described above, according to this embodiment, the supplement management server 1 may determine the planned intake timing of the supplement shipped to the user for a predetermined number of intakes. The supplement management server 1 may also obtain meal record information indicating meals taken by the user at a timing according to any of the intake plans. The supplement management server 1 may also determine whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary based on the nutritional intake amount of the meal indicated by the meal record information, the amount of nutrients contained in the shipped supplement per intake, and the preset target amount of nutrients. The supplement management server 1 may also transmit determination information indicating the determination result of the necessity of intake to the user terminal 4 of the user. Therefore, information for determining whether or not to take the supplement can be provided to the user. Therefore, the supplement shipped to the user can be used as a supplement to the meal, allowing the intake of an appropriate amount of nutrients.

[0088] At this time, the supplement management server 1 may determine the number of times to take the supplement to be shipped next, so that the number of times to take the supplement is reduced according to the number of times it has been determined that the intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary. The supplement management server 1 may also determine the planned intake timing for the determined number of times. In this case, the more times it has been determined that the intake of the already shipped supplement is unnecessary, the smaller the amount of the supplement to be shipped next. Therefore, the supplement can be shipped while preventing the user from having excess supplements left over at their hands.

[0089] In addition, when the supplement management server 1 determines that the user does not need to take supplements, a special benefit may be given to the user. In this case, the user is given a special benefit if the user takes a diet that does not require the intake of supplements. Therefore, the user can be encouraged to take an appropriate diet.

[0090] The supplement management server 1 may also obtain dietary record information indicating meals taken by the user before the planned intake timing is determined. The supplement management server 1 may further determine the contents of the supplements to be shipped based on the nutritional intake amount and the target nutrient amount of the meal taken before the planned intake timing is determined. In this case, the contents of the supplements to be shipped are determined based on the user's past meals. Therefore, it is possible to provide supplements appropriate for the user.

[0091] The supplement management server 1 may also change the planned intake timing at which it is determined that the intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary. The supplement management server 1 may also determine whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary when the timing at which the user takes a meal corresponds to any of a plurality of planned intake timings including the determined planned intake timing and the changed planned intake timing. In this case, the necessity of taking the supplement is determined even if the user takes a meal at a timing corresponding to the changed planned intake timing. Therefore, the necessity of taking the supplement for which it is determined that it is unnecessary can be determined again later. In addition, since there is a possibility that the supplement for which it is determined that it is unnecessary to take is taken at the changed planned intake timing, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the supplement for which it is determined that it is unnecessary to take is discarded.

[0092] The supplement management server 1 may also specify the timing at which the dietary record information was acquired from the user terminal 4 as the timing at which the user ingested a meal. In this case, if the timing at which the dietary record information was acquired from the user terminal 4 of the user corresponds to any of the determined planned intake timings, the necessity of taking a supplement is determined. Therefore, the determination result of the necessity of taking a supplement can be presented to the user at an appropriate timing when the intake of the supplement is planned.

[0093] [2. Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described. Except for the points described below, the second embodiment may be the same as the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the information regarding the supplements to be shipped from the second time onwards was determined periodically. The supplements were also shipped periodically according to the timing of this determination. In this embodiment, the timing of this determination changes according to the judgment result of the necessity of taking the supplements. Therefore, the timing of the shipment of the supplements also changes. The supplement management server 1 may determine the timing of the shipment of the supplements or instruct the shipment when the timing of the shipment arrives.

[0094] [2-1. Functionality Overview] Next, referring to FIG. 12, a functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the supplement management server 1 will be described. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may estimate the remaining number of packages of supplements shipped in the past for each predetermined timing based on the result of the determination of the necessity of taking supplements by the intake necessity determination unit 1105. The remaining number of packages of supplements that the user has in hand is called the number of remaining packages of supplements. When it is time to take supplements, the number of packages containing the supplements that the user has in hand is usually reduced by one. Therefore, as time passes, the number of remaining packages decreases. However, if it is determined that the intake of supplements is unnecessary, it is estimated that the user will not take the supplements. Therefore, the number of intakes does not decrease for the planned intake timings for which it is determined that the intake of supplements is unnecessary.

[0095] For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may manage the number of remaining packages of the supplement. For example, when the supplement is shipped for the first time, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may set the number of remaining packages to an initial value of the number of packages. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may decrease the number of remaining packages by 1 when the date and time period corresponding to the planned timing of intake of the shipped supplement have passed. However, when it is determined that intake of the supplement is unnecessary, the supplement information determination unit 1103 does not decrease the number of remaining packages. When the supplement is shipped for the second or subsequent time, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may add the number of packages of the supplement to be shipped this time to the number of remaining packages.

[0096] Alternatively, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may estimate the number of remaining packages of the supplement based on the supplement intake schedule DB 14g. The fact that there is a planned intake timing for the supplement after the current time indicates that there are still supplements planned to be taken at that timing. As described above, the planned intake timing for the supplement determined to be unnecessary is changed. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may search for the latest planned intake timing for the user, for example, from the supplement intake schedule DB 14g. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate the number of planned intakes of the supplement from the planned intake timing corresponding to the next time slot including the current time to the latest planned intake timing as the number of remaining packages.

[0097] The supplement information determination unit 1103 may estimate the number of remaining packages at a predetermined time once or multiple times each day, as in the first embodiment. Alternatively, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may estimate the number of remaining packages when the intake necessity determination unit 1105 determines whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary.

[0098] The supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the planned intake timing of the next supplement to be shipped before the estimated number of remaining packages of the supplement falls below the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery of the supplement. This also determines the timing of shipping the supplement. The number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery is called the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery. The number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery may be calculated by multiplying the number of days required for delivery by three. The shipment of the supplement may be delayed while the amount of supplement does not decrease due to the absence of need for intake of the supplement. In order to determine the planned intake timing of the next supplement to be shipped while the number of remaining packages is equal to or greater than the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery, it may be necessary to leave some margin. For example, in the case where the supplement is shipped from the shipping location once a day, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may determine the shipment of the supplement when the number of remaining packages falls below the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery + 3. If the number of remaining packages is the number of packages required for delivery + 3 or more, even if the shipment of the supplements is delayed by one day, the number of remaining packages will remain equal to or greater than the number of packages required for delivery.

[0099] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of determining the timing of shipment of a supplement. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, after the planned intake timing of the supplement P1 to be shipped for the first time is determined, the supplement P1 is delivered to the user. The user starts inputting the details of the meal from, for example, February 1, which is the planned start date of intake of the supplement, and confirms the necessity of taking the supplement P1. Assume that the number of days required for delivery of the supplement is two days. Therefore, the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery is six. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines whether or not to ship the supplement at dawn every day. As shown in FIG. 12, the number of times that it was determined that the intake of the supplement P1 was unnecessary between February 1 and February 5 was three. Therefore, at the time of dawn on February 6, the amount of supplement P1 remaining until the evening of February 8 remains. The number of packages remaining at the time of dawn on February 6 is nine. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 does not determine the shipment of the next supplement. It was determined that the intake of the supplement was necessary for the three meals on February 6. Therefore, the number of remaining packages as of the early hours of February 7th is 6. Because the number of remaining packages is less than the number of packages corresponding to the number of days required for delivery + 3, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the contents of the next supplement to be shipped and the planned timing of intake, and transmits the supplement shipping information to the shipping terminal 2. Therefore, supplement P2 will be shipped on February 7th and delivered on February 8th. The number of packages of supplement P2 shipped this time is 18. Since there is at least enough supplement P1 shipped previously to last until the evening of February 8th, the delivery of the supplement will arrive in time for intake from the morning of February 9th.

[0100] [2-2. Operation of communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system will be described with reference to Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of the second supplement information determination process by the system control unit 11 of the supplement management server 1 according to this embodiment. In Fig. 13, the same processes as those in Fig. 11 are given the same reference numerals.

[0101] As shown in FIG. 13, the supplement information determination unit 1103 searches the supplement intake schedule DB 14g for supplement intake schedule information including supplement intake schedule timing information indicating the latest planned intake timing among the supplement intake schedule information including the user ID of the target user (step S321). Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 calculates the number of remaining packages (step S322). For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 may specify the next planned intake timing of the planned intake timing corresponding to the time period including the current time. If the current time is the pre-dawn time period, the timing of the next day's morning may be specified as the next planned intake timing. The supplement information determination unit 1103 may calculate the number of planned intake timings from the next planned intake timing to the latest planned intake timing as the number of remaining packages. Next, the supplement information determination unit 1103 obtains the number of required delivery days corresponding to the prefecture where the user's address is located from the required delivery days DB 14e, and calculates the number of packages corresponding to the required delivery days. The supplement information determination unit 1103 determines whether the number of remaining packages is less than the number of packages corresponding to the number of required delivery days + 3 (step S323). If the number of remaining packages is equal to or greater than the number of packages corresponding to the number of required delivery days + 3 (step S323: NO), the second supplement information determination process ends. If the number of remaining packages is less than the number of packages corresponding to the number of required delivery days + 3 (step S323: YES), steps S302 to S317 are executed as in the first embodiment.

[0102] As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to delay the delivery of supplements while preventing the user from running out of supplements. Therefore, it is possible to deliver supplements efficiently.

[0103] [3. Third embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 14. Except for the points described below, the third embodiment may be the same as the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the number of packages of supplements to be shipped this time was determined for each shipment of supplements from the second time onwards, based on the number of times it was determined that the intake of the supplement was unnecessary. However, the supplement information determination unit 1103 does not need to determine the number of packages. The number of packages may be fixed at the initial value.

[0104] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of determining the planned timing of taking a supplement. As in the example shown in FIG. 12, the first supplement P1 is shipped, and the user starts inputting the details of the meal from February 1st to check whether or not the supplement P1 is necessary to be taken. As shown in FIG. 14, the number of times that it is determined that the supplement is unnecessary to be taken is three times between February 1st and February 6th. Therefore, since the number of remaining packages at the time of dawn on February 7th is 6, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the contents of the supplement to be shipped next and the planned timing of intake at this timing. The number of packages this time is also the same as the initial value of 21. Therefore, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned timing of intake for 21 times for the supplement P2 to be shipped. For example, the supplement information determination unit 1103 determines the planned timing of intake to be each timing from the morning of February 9th to the evening of February 15th.

[0105] (Additional Note 1) A supplement management device comprising: a determination means for determining the planned intake timings for a predetermined number of intakes of supplements to be shipped to a user, for the number of intakes; an acquisition means for acquiring meal information indicating meals ingested by the user at timings corresponding to any of the determined intake timings; a determination means for determining whether or not the supplement needs to be taken based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired meal information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a predetermined target nutrient amount; and a transmission means for transmitting determination information indicating the determination result of whether or not the supplement needs to be taken to a terminal device of the user.

[0106] (Appendix 2) The supplement management device described in Appendix 1 is characterized in that the supplements are repeatedly shipped to the user at intervals, and the decision means determines the number of times the supplement will be taken that will be next shipped so that the number of times it is determined that the intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary is reduced, determines the intake timing for the determined number of times, and ships the supplements for the determined number of times.

[0107] (Appendix 3) The supplement management device described in appendix 1 or 2, characterized in that the supplements are repeatedly shipped to the user at intervals, and the decision means estimates the remaining number of times to be taken of the shipped supplement at predetermined timings based on the judgment result of whether or not the supplement is needed to be taken, determines the number of times to be taken of the supplement to be shipped next before the estimated remaining number of times to be taken falls below the number of times corresponding to the period required for delivery of the supplement, determines the timing of intake for the determined number of times, and ships the supplement for the determined number of times.

[0108] (Appendix 4) A supplement management device as described in any one of Appendices 1 to 3, further comprising a benefit determination means for determining to grant a benefit to the user when it is determined that intake of the supplement is unnecessary.

[0109] (Appendix 5) The supplement management device described in any one of Appendices 1 to 4, characterized in that the acquisition means may acquire the meal information indicating a meal ingested by the user before the intake timing is determined by the determination means, and the determination means further determines the contents of the supplement including at least one of the supplement to be shipped and the amount of the supplement per intake based on the first nutrient amount and the target nutrient amount of the meal ingested before the intake timing is determined.

[0110] (Appendix 6) The supplement management device of any one of Appendices 1 to 5 further comprises a change means for changing the intake timing at which it is determined that intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary, and the determination means determines whether or not intake of the supplement is necessary when the timing at which the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information was consumed by the user corresponds to any of a plurality of intake timings including the intake timing determined by the determination means and the intake timing changed by the change means.

[0111] (Appendix 7) The supplement management device described in any one of Appendices 1 to 6, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires the dietary information from the terminal device and identifies the timing at which the dietary information was acquired as the timing at which the user consumed the meal.

[0112] (Appendix 8) A supplement management method executed by a computer, comprising: a determination step of determining planned intake timings for a predetermined number of intakes of supplements to be shipped to a user, the determined intake timings corresponding to the number of intakes; an acquisition step of acquiring dietary information indicating meals ingested by the user at timings corresponding to any of the determined intake timings; a determination step of determining whether or not the supplement needs to be taken based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a preset target nutrient amount; and a transmission step of transmitting determination information indicating the determination result of whether or not the supplement needs to be taken to a terminal device of the user. [Explanation of symbols]

[0113] 1. Supplement Management Server 2. Shipping terminal 3 Point Management Server 4. User terminal 11 System control section 12 System Bus 13 Input / Output Interface 14 Storage section 14a User DB 14b Supplement DB 14c Food and drink 14d Food Record DB 14e Delivery time DB 14f Supplement Shipping DB 14g Supplement intake schedule DB 14h Supplement intake unnecessary number of times DB 15 Communications Department 1101 Nutrition Goal Setting Department 1102 Meal record information acquisition unit 1103 Supplement Information Decision Department 1104 Information Provision Department 1105 Intake Necessity Judgment Section 1106 Intake timing change unit 1107 Benefit Decision Department NW Network S Communication System

Claims

1. A determination means for determining a timing for taking a predetermined number of supplements to be shipped to a user, the timing being determined for the number of supplements to be taken; An acquisition means for acquiring meal information indicating meals ingested at a timing corresponding to any one of the determined intake timings; A determination means for determining whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information, a second nutrient amount of the supplement, and a preset target nutrient amount; A transmitting means for transmitting judgment information indicating the judgment result of whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary to the terminal device of the user; A supplement management device comprising:

2. The supplement is repeatedly shipped to the user at intervals of days, The determination means determines the number of times to be taken of the supplement to be shipped next so that the number of times to be taken is reduced according to the number of times it has been determined that the intake of the shipped supplement is unnecessary, and determines the intake timing for the determined number of times to be taken; The supplement management device according to claim 1, characterized in that the supplements are delivered in the number of intakes determined.

3. The supplement management device described in claim 2, characterized in that the determination means estimates the remaining number of times to be taken of the shipped supplement at each specified timing based on the judgment result of whether or not the supplement is needed to be taken, and determines the number of times to be taken of the next shipped supplement before the estimated remaining number of times to be taken falls below the number of times corresponding to the period required for delivery of the supplement.

4. A supplement management device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a benefit determination means for determining to grant a benefit to the user when it is determined that intake of the supplement is unnecessary.

5. The acquisition means further acquires the meal information indicating a meal taken by the user before the intake timing is determined by the determination means, A supplement management device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the determination means further determines the contents of the supplement, including at least one of the supplement to be shipped and the amount of the supplement per intake, based on the first nutrient amount and the target nutrient amount of the meal ingested before the intake timing is determined.

6. The method further includes a change means for changing the intake timing when it is determined that the intake of the delivered supplement is unnecessary, The supplement management device of any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the determination means determines whether or not the supplement is necessary when the timing at which the user ingests the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information corresponds to any of a plurality of intake timings including the intake timing determined by the determination means and the intake timing changed by the change means.

7. A supplement management device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires the dietary information from the terminal device and identifies the timing when the dietary information is acquired as the timing when the user consumed the meal.

8. 1. A computer-implemented method for supplement management, comprising: A step of determining a timing for taking the supplements for a predetermined number of times to be shipped to the user, the timing being equal to the number of times the supplements are to be taken; an acquisition step of acquiring meal information indicating meals ingested by the user at a timing corresponding to any one of the determined intake timings; A determination step of determining whether or not the intake of the supplement is necessary based on a first nutrient amount of the meal indicated by the acquired dietary information, a second nutrient amount of the shipped supplement, and a preset target nutrient amount; A transmission step of transmitting determination information indicating the determination result of the necessity of taking the supplement to the terminal device of the user; A supplement management method comprising the steps of:

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