Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Smart dinner plate urges you to slow down
The best kind of feedback occurs in the context of the activity that you're seeking feedback about. That's how a control system works -- real-time feedback on how a system is performing allows the operator to adjust and optimize. That's the beauty of smart power outlets like Kill A Watt that measures the actual cost to you of operating the appliance plugged into it. Or the Prius dashboard that provides data on how many miles per gallon you're getting at the moment. Now that same idea is coming to the dinner table. The Mandometer is a sensor-laden device that fits under a plate to calculate how quickly you're eating. Wolfing down your dinner? The device verbally urges you to "chew your food." Well, not quite but it does provide an audio cue to slow down. The idea is that you'll "feel satisfied sooner and eat less." The device was developed a Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet and tested at the Bristol Hospital for Children in the UK. The researchers reported their results in the British Medical Journal. From My Digital Life:
An 18 month study conducted by researchers at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in Britain has indicated that the Mandometer is an effective tool to combat obesity in children and teens. The team tested 106 clinically obese patients ranging in age from nine to 17 years old. Some of the patients had to use the Mandometer while the others received standard anti-obesity treatment. All of them were urged to practice some form of physical exercise for 60 minutes a day and to follow a healthy diet.
The results of the study were published in an article in the British Medical Journal. When participants were assessed a year into the study, the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the group who had used the Mandometer had fallen by an average of 2.1%, which is about three times more than the group who had received the standard treatment. At the end of the study 18 months later, those results still held steady.
The group who had used the Mandometer was also eating smaller portions of food (about 45 grams less than before) by the end of the study.
The race to slow down was also won by the Mandometer group. At the end of the study, their eating speed had been reduced by about 11%, while the standard care group was eating 4% faster.
"Talking plate scale urges diners to slow down" (My Digital Life)
"Treatment of childhood obesity by retraining eating behaviour: randomised controlled trial" (British Medical Journal)