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Can you beat the bulge with an iPhone app?

For women who battle the bulge, yoyo dieting and exercise bootcamp might not appeal or keep the weight off in the long run.

Jul 26, 2017, updated Jul 26, 2017

Now there’s an easy option which might be the answer and it involves playing some ‘mind games’ with a simple phone app.

Flinders psychology researchers are inviting up to 100 overweight and obese women, aged 18-65 with 25+ body mass index but weigh under 180kg (certain conditions apply) in Adelaide to take part in a trial of a new Apple iPhone app which encourages participants to think healthy thoughts.

The mobile phone program, developed in the US, works on positive subconscious persuasion to encourage regular users to change their mindset.

“Like the subliminal messaging in fast-food advertising and tantalising chocolate and snack food commercials, the subconscious can be trained to switch to more healthy options,” says Professor Eva Kemps, from the Flinders College of Education, Psychology and Social Work.

“We know that overweight people exhibit an additional bias for food but that bias can be modified, including with a mix of old and new food pictures,” she says.

“Based on the principles of modifying behaviour with visual cues, and the need for ongoing reminders, we’re hoping to demonstrate that this new app can produce positive results and encourage weight loss.”

The phone app has already shown promise in small-scale pilot trials in the US, but this will be the first trial here in Australia.

Fellow researcher Sarah Hollitt says many weight-loss programs do not deal with underlying issues such as pathological overeating.

To help to keep participants on task, three consultations and health check-ups over three months will be conducted at times convenient to participants.

“We ask participants to come to Flinders University three times during the three months,” Ms Hollitt says.

“The app is similar to playing a game and can be used in the comfort of participants’ homes.

“While participants are allowed to exercise, volunteers should not be dieting during the study.”

Conditions to the food study include access to an iPhone model 4 or newer with iOS of 8 or higher, able to walk up a flight of stairs, have no known illness including a diagnosed eating disorder or food allergies, be pregnant, or be on a diet or taking anti-obesity drugs.

Women who meet the study conditions and would like to participate in the trial, can contact Sarah at [email protected]

Also see Longevity of attentional bias modification effects for food cues in overweight and obese individuals (2016) Psychology of Health by E Kemps, M Tiggemann and S Hollitt  and other related articles.

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