Talking dietary device helps obese lose weight

A TALKING dietary device that monitors the rate at which people eat and the size of their portions could play a significant role in fighting childhood obesity, a new study shows.

Researchers from the University of Bristol found that obese adolescents were better able to alter their eating habits when given feedback from the computerised weighing device called a Mandometer.

The device, which is placed under plates of food, is connected to a screen which plots the speed of people’s food consumption and compares it to a rate recommended by a food therapist.

It also tells users to slow down if they are eating too fast.

The Mandometer was developed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Participants who used it managed to lose more weight than those who followed standard dietary advice, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal.

“Modifying eating behaviour might provide additional benefits to standard lifestyle modification in treating obese adolescents,” the study states.

“While it is unknown whether a specific eating pattern is typical for all obese individuals, those in our pilot study ate large portions very fast.”

The project focused on 106 obese adolescents aged between nine and 17 who were newly referred to Bristol’s Royal Hospital for Children.

One group of participants received Mandometer therapy to aid their weight loss, while the other patients were provided with standard weight loss care.

All participants were asked to complete 60 minutes of exercise each day and to eat a balanced diet based on recommendations from the UK’s Food Standards Agency. During the study they were regularly monitored and offered telephone support and encouragement.

Participants were assessed 12 months into the programme and their progress was then assessed six months later.

“After 12 months, the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index and body fat score than the standard care group, but their portion size was smaller and their speed of eating was reduced by 11 per cent compared with a gain of 4 per cent in the other group,” the study said. “Levels of ‘good cholesterol’ were also significantly higher in the Mandometer group.”

A 2008 survey by Slán indicated that some 20 per cent of children in the Republic were obese or overweight. It also found 16 per cent of men aged 18-44 and 17 per cent of women in the same age group were obese.

Dr Donal O’Shea, a consultant endocrinologist at St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown, Dublin, said the findings of the study should be welcomed.

“It’s not a drug or an operation and at the moment these are regularly being used to treat obesity in the US and United Kingdom,” he said. “Anything that reduces children’s body mass index if they are obese or overweight is a very good development.”

Dr O’Shea said products similar to the Mandometer were previously used to treat anorexia and that the concept had now been flipped to treat people who were eating too much rather than too little.

He added that if parents and children were committed to exercising, a good diet and controlling portion size, they could achieve similar results without purchasing an expensive device.