Big Way Of Life

Teaching children to eat in a different manner, rather than just eat healthy foods, could become an important way of fighting obesity, research suggests.

Experts from Bristol University, alongside others from around the world, used a special electrical device to monitor how children eat their food.

The Mandometer is a portable weighing scale that connects to a computer and can work out how much and how fast food is removed from the plate. It then gives feedback to the user, advising them whether to alter their eating methods. For example, if it recognises the user is eating too quickly it will tell them to slow down. After 12 months in the study, and when compared to a control group, those using the Mandometer displayed a healthier BMI.

The experts believe that the device “can be used to improve diet by encouraging the consumption of starchy foods, fruit and vegetables, moderate amounts of milk, dairy products, fish and lean meat and small amounts of high fat and high sugar foods”

For a more in-depth read of the study, visit the British Medical Journal here.