With 30M users, MyFitnessPal launches a health and fitness platform for third-party partners

MyFitnessPal has grown its online fitness community to more than 30 million users. Now it’s launching an API (application programming interface) so that partners can build apps on top of it for the first time.

With the API, developers can connect fitness measurement devices with a real-time database that provides nutrition information and other fitness tools. The move is part of a strategy by San Francisco-based MyFitnessPal to build an ecosystem of devices that help people monitor their health and measure their physical activity. Many expect this move to fuel broad growth in health and fitness apps over time.

Among the companies developing for the platform are makers of devices that count steps, measure calorie intake, and track other body patterns. The partners include BodyMedia, Finis Swimsense, Fitbit, Interactive Fitness, Striiv, Mio, Scosche Rhythm, Runtastic, Endomondo and Withings. With the partner integrations, MyFitnessPal users will be able to instantly sync their daily activities, weight, and body fat information from other health products directly with their personal MyFitnessPal food diary and exercise log.

MyFitnessPal has a database of nutritional information with more than 2 million listings. Those include the nutritional value of foods served at the most popular restaurants. The goal is to gather all of a user’s fitness data in one place. MyFitnessPal has been growing at a rate of 1.5 million new users each month. To date, those users have reported burning 88.8 billion calories and logging 12.6 billion minutes of exercise (almost 24,000 years).

“For the millions of people who have found success improving their nutrition with MyFitnessPal, we are now making it easier than ever to incorporate physical activity,” said co-founder Mike Lee.

MyFitnessPal was founded in 2005 and has 25 employees. Rivals include LoseIt, WeightWatchers, and Livestrong. MyFitnessPal is bootstrapped. It was founded by brothers Mike and Albert Lee.

“Having a deeper understanding about fitness and health can motivate a person to change his or her behavior,” said BodyMedia CEO Christine Robins. “Making it easier to see that information is a plus. By merging select data from our respective platforms, our partnership with MyFitnessPal will help consumers on their wellness journey.”