Online Training Game May Help Fight Obesity

Scientists believe a computer game could help fight obesity by training people to resist unhealthy snack foods.

A trial of the game saw volunteers complete four 10-minute online sessions while keeping food diaries.

The volunteers reported losing almost 1.5lb (0.7kg) in a week. After six months, they had shed nearly 4.5lb (2kg).

The "stop-go" game sees players press keys in response to images flashed on a computer screen, while obeying a signal not to respond to others.

Images of nine foods - including biscuits, chocolate and crisps - fall into the "stop" category, while images of healthy foods elicit a "go" response.

Other pictures of inedible items such as furniture and gardening tools could fall into either the "stop" or "go" bracket.

The game tries to train people to associate high-calorie foods with the act of "stopping".
Scientist Dr Natalia Lawrence, from the University of Exeter, said: "These findings are among the first to suggest that a brief, simple computerised tool can change people's everyday eating behaviour.
"It is exciting to see the effects of our lab studies translate to the real world.

"This research is still in its infancy and the effects are modest - larger, registered trials with longer-term measures need to be conducted.

"However, our findings suggest that this cognitive training approach is worth pursuing.
"It is free, easy to do and 88% of our participants said they would be happy to keep doing it and would recommend it to a friend.

"This opens up exciting possibilities for new behaviour change interventions based on underlying psychological processes."

Results of the study have been published in the journal Appetite.