Overweight people may turn to video games for weight loss in the future.
New virtual reality technology will allow men and women to watch a weight-loss model's behavior in a digital community, according to a George Washington University press release.
"This pilot study showed that you don't have to be a gamer to use virtual reality to learn some important skills for weight loss," said Melissa Napolitano, PhD, an associate professor of prevention and community health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). "This small study suggests that virtual reality could be a promising new tool for building healthier habits."
A university of Stanford study found people who watched a virtual avatar resembling themselves run on a treadmill were more likely to exercise the next day. People who watched an avatar that didn't look like them were not as likely to jump on the exercise machines.
A Temple University Center for Obesity Research and Education team surveyed 128 women who were trying to lose weight but had never used virtual reality as an aid. Most of the women were open to the idea of "video game weight loss," and said visual representations of healthier lifestyle choices could help them make better weight loss decisions.
The team created a video game sequence which would allow users to watch an avatar make healthy choices, such as running on a treadmill.
"This study is a perfect example of how virtual reality can be used in promoting human health," said Giuseppe Russo, PhD, of Temple's Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, who helped develop the software.
The team conducted a four-week trial with eight overweight women. The subjects were asked to come into the clinic once a week to watch a 15 minute video of a custom-made avatar demonstrating healthy behavior.
One lesson taught the women about portion size, having the avatar eat meals that were either too small, too large, or an appropriate size. They also learned different intensity workouts on the treadmill.
After the four-week trial the women had lost an average of 3.5 pounds, which is consistent with average weight loss on most diet plans.
More studies need to be done on the system, but the team hopes the software will help overweight people implement healthy habits and stick with them.
