Obesity, being one of the most common lifestyle-related disorders today, is being increasingly researched and studied, and new preventable approaches are now developed.
A smartphone app can now help prevent obesity too! This simple smartphone app that can click pictures of meals, thus motivating people to avoid eating high-calorie foods and lessening the risk of getting obese.
This app, developed by UK doctors, aims to make individuals remember the amount of calories they have taken in and encourage them to avoid consuming more foods rich in calories.
This app functioned in three parts:
Firstly, the user is expected to click a picture of the food that he will be eating.
Secondly, after finishing off, he will be asked some questions regarding his appetite after consuming the food.
And lastly, before eating any further meals in the day, the user would be asked to browse through the pictures of the foods he had already consumed during the day, and get a text message that reminds them of the food that they have eaten throughout the day.
A study involving 12 overweight people, both male and female, was carried out. The study subjects were closely monitored for a period of four weeks, with the smartphone app being accessed for at least five times a day. The results showed that subjects were able to lose 1.5 kilos on an average during the study period.
Obesity preventive measures like these could go a long way in lessening the number of individuals suffering from obesity, and its related conditions, and seemingly putting an end to the 'obesity epidemic.'
"Raising awareness of eating and weight loss achieved suggests this approach could be fruitful," said University of Liverpool investigator Eric Robinson.
"Given that our trial was a very brief intervention with little contact time and no nutritional advice or support, this is a promising finding."
This new initiative was revealed at the European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, northwestern England. The app is yet to be revealed to the public.
