New Plate Weighing Scale to Help Fight Obesity

A new device has been created by the scientists at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute to help fight childhood obesity. It is called a Mandometer and the device has an electronic scale that would sit under the plate and weigh the remaining food as the meal is eaten. Next to the device would be a small screen that would show a graph indicating the rate that the food is being eaten. The line on the graph would be matched against an ideal graph of consumption. If there is too much deviation from the ideal graph, the computer will make a spoken request for the eater to slow down. The concept of the device is to train overweight people to eat less and more slowly to help them feel full without overeating.

Researchers at the Bristol Royal Hospital for children and the University of Bristol in Western England did a test on 106 obese patients aged between nine and seventeen years old. The patients used the Mandometer, exercised 60 minutes a day, and followed a healthy diet for a year and had successful results. The Mandometer helped the patient’s portion sizes to be smaller by the end of the study and caused a reduction in the speed of eating by 11 percent. The Mandometer gives the best results when used in conjunction with exercise and a healthy diet.