Scientists from the University of Tsukuba developed and tested a weight loss app for overweight people. The research was published in the journal nutrients.
Behavioral therapy is a well-studied and effective treatment for obesity. At the same time, nutritionists manually calculate the nutritional value of meals and make individual recommendations, but such support can be costly and time-consuming. Researchers in Japan tested whether this approach could be implemented using a mobile app.
The researchers developed the CALO mama Plus app themselves and then tested the participants (141 office workers) in two groups. The first was asked to use the application, the second served as a control and was not subject to any intervention.
In the app, participants entered information about their diet, sleep quality, exercise, and mood. Based on these data, the application generated individual recommendations.
After three months, app users lost significantly more weight than people in the control group, proving the effectiveness of this approach. App users lost an average of 2.4 ± 4 kg, while the control group lost 0.7 ± 3.3 kg.
Source: Gazeta
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