Obesity Researchers 'Go Virtual' to Promote Healthy Behaviors
By Hugh C. McBride
Researchers with the University of Texas plan to use a virtual environment to help overweight computer users lose real weight. According to an Aug. 8 article by San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Victoria Colliver, the researchers hope that promoting health activities in a popular online world will translate into offline weight loss:
The University of Houston's Texas Obesity Research Center is using Second Life, the 3-D virtual world created by San Francisco's Linden Lab, to offer participants incentives for healthy dietary habits and increased physical activity. ...
The Texas researchers plan to recruit 500 people from different countries to participate in the obesity study, which will reward their online characters, or avatars, with "Lindens," the currency of Second Life, for such activities as walking on treadmills, riding bikes, and trying new fruits and vegetables - in the virtual world. Participants will also compete as teams, earning points for their behavior. ...
Dr. Peter Yellowlees, a psychiatrist who has used Second Life to help people gain a better understanding of schizophrenia and other mental disorders, told the Chronicle that the relative anonymity of the virtual world may make it the ideal location for weight-loss assistance.
"Obese people are stigmatized," Yellowlees said. "They don't like meeting in groups or 'coming out' about obesity. There's a strong likelihood they'll feel more comfortable meeting in Second Life having an avatar with a different name."
Leave a Comment