The World Health Organization reports that there are more than a billion people worldwide who are overweight, more than 300 million of whom are considered obese and these figures should be compared to the 800 million who do not have enough to eat.
In an effort to help overweight individuals, Swedish scientists at the Karolinska Institute have created a talking plate that helps users eat a bit slower and monitor their food intake via encouraging suggestions and reminders.
Called the Mandometer, the computer-linked electronic plate weighs food and then chides users if they eat too quickly. The Mandometer contains a scale that weighs the plate contents and compares it to a computer graph showing the ideal rate of food consumption. Eating too quickly triggers the computer to request the individual to slow down.
The Mandometer was used in a study with 106 obese adolescents at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the University of Bristol. Results were promising as the Mandometer group had lower average body mass index and a lower body fat score than the non-Mandometer group. All study participants were also encouraged to eat a balanced diet and to increase exercise to 60 minutes a day.
The study was published online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Visit: http://www.bmj.com/
