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Digital scales
How avatars could help with the
battle of the bulge.
By Wade Zaglas
S
evere diets, fasting, diet pills and
gastric bands – these are some of
the lengths people with obesity have
gone to in order to lose weight and regain
their health.
But now there may be more effective
treatments on the way, with a major
research project investigating how digital
tools – such as avatars – could be used to
assist people in managing their weight.
Over the next two years research will be
conducted between the University of Notre
Dame Australia, Archetype Health, Werribee
Hospital Foundation, Mercy Hospitals
Victoria and the Digital Health Cooperative
Research Centre (Digital Health CRC).
The study relies on an app (called Future
Me) that allows participants to match their
face to an avatar. The researchers then adjust
the participants’ exercise levels and food
intake over time to measure how the avatar’s
appearance and body shape changes.
The study follows previous trials showing
how the app’s images can be “highly
stimulating and can trigger behavioural
changes and effort to better control weight”
in individuals committed to change. This
study will conduct further testing, focusing
on when and how such digital tools should
be offered to individuals.
Dr Moyez Jiwa, director of Archetype
Health, professor of health innovation
at Notre Dame’s School of Medicine,
and associate dean of the Melbourne
Clinical School, will work with two other
experts on the project – Notre Dame’s
Dr Ruthra Nagendran and Professor Iain
Greenlees (University of Chichester, UK).
“We will investigate how digital tools
like the Future Me app can best be used in
practice and observe how patients respond
to these potentially life-changing tools,”
Jiwa said.
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics’
National Health Survey (2017–18) showed
that 67 per cent of Australian adults are
obese or overweight – with this in mind, it’s
hugely important to look for solutions that
could help patients make the day-to-day
lifestyle changes they require in order to
manage their weight more effectively and
live healthier lives.
“Computers and smartphones are
increasingly a large part of our lives; we
seem to be looking at a screen almost every
minute of the day. Here is an opportunity
for us to do something useful with that
from the health perspective.”
Dr Victor Pantano, CEO of the Digital
Health CRC, said that digital tools have
“tremendous potential” in combatting
the obesity epidemic affecting Australia
and other countries across the world. As
obesity contributes to a variety of diseases
and poor health, and puts a strain on the
health care system, Pantano believes it’s
critical that everything is done to “motivate
and support” individuals to achieve a
healthier weight.
Dr Michael Dodson, medical director
of Mercy Hospitals Victoria, agrees that
digital applications could provide “highly
personalised tools” to motivate individuals
and reinforce changes in weight.
“For these digital tools to work most
effectively in influencing lifestyle choices,
they need to be customisable enough to
integrate smoothly into the daily lives of a
diverse range of individuals,” Dodson said.
“This study is particularly valuable as it
not only considers a digital tool that can
motivate and influence behaviour, but also
seeks to determine how that tool can most
effectively be used.”
The chairperson of the Werribee
Hospital Foundation, Dr Jason Goh, says
the Wyndham community in Melbourne’s
southwestern suburbs is a technologically
competent community and ready for
“digital health research”.
“For every dollar invested, Australian
medical research returns $3.90 in health
benefits to the community,” Goh says.
“We are confident that the successful
completion of this research project will
encourage further collaboration between
government, public health services,
universities, industry and philanthropic
organisations like the foundation
to stimulate growth in digital health
research activities.” ■
Avatar image: Supplied.
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