MODIFYING EATING BEHAVIOR-NEW DEVELOPMENTS

The simple truth that eating more than what the body demands rarely sink in people who are slaves to foods with practically no control on their craving for food. No matter what dieting practices are forced on them, they invariably tend to go back to their frenetic eating habits when food availability is unlimited. There are a number of restrictive diets with low calories and fats that are supposed to help reducing weight if religiously adhered to regularly and systematically but it requires lot of will power and discipline to follow the recommended regimen. There are innumerable weight control clinics, health clubs and hospitals where controlled feeding is done for a certain time under expert guidance and supervision. Unfortunately all these organizations serve a limited purpose in showing the way how weight reduction can be achieved but once the beneficiaries leave these programs they relapse easily into their old habits, regaining their weights in no time. Recent development of a device costing about $ 1500, approved in the US called Mandometer may be the answer to families which want to control body weight for their members. If reports are to be believed this device is effective in influencing eating behavior through involuntary action. Here is a take on this interesting development.

"New technology that monitors portion sizes and how fast people eat could be instrumental in fighting obesity, a new study reveals today. Obese adolescents who monitor the speed at which they clear their plates learn to lose weight far more effectively, the dietary study has shown. Tests in which patients were given instant feedback on their eating habits – using a computerised, talking scale known as a Mandometer – enabled them to modify their behaviour, researchers in Bristol discovered. The portable weighing scale, slipped under the plate of food, is connected to a small screen that plots food removal over time – and compares it to a rate of consumption recommended by a food therapist. By tracking portion size and how fast people eat, the youngsters, aged between nine and 17, managed to lose more pounds than those merely following standard dietary advice, according to the article published on bmj.com today. The Mandometer was developed at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. It encourages individuals to eat less, more slowly and to develop a more normal pattern of satiety. If the patient starts gulping a meal too quickly, the device tells them to slow down".

The debate on obesity often focuses on the undesirable practices of the processing industry in catering to the palates of the consumer, ignoring the consequences on the health by consumption of most of the packed foods offered in the market. In this never ending debate, industry holds the consumer solely responsible for choosing wrong foods which are rich in calories, fat and salt and not leading an active life. Without taking any side in this ping pong game, consumer must realize that body weight can be maintained at a healthy level only when the input and out put of food calories are equal and any distortion can cause weight changes.      

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com