The Energy Balancer: A supporting tool within weight management by means of mindful eating

The Energy Balancer: A supporting tool within weight management by means of mindful eating

Weekamp, A.

De Ridder, H. (mentor)
Dekker, M.C. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Design for Interaction

2011-04-15

Weight Management:Many people in the world are dealing with overweight and this amount is still growing each year. Most people are not aware of their food intake. Literature indicates that people estimate their food intake 20% less then it actually is. To lose weight without a lot of effort, a simple awareness of what you eat is enough. A well used method for this is a self reporting daily food diary. However, this method has some disadvantages. It requires big effort of the user and underreporting of the daily intake is high. Graduation Project:Literature indicates that state of the art sensor technology is able to detect food intake. Based on this literature and several user studies, a product concept is developed, called ‘The Energy Balancer’. This product makes the user more aware of his/her food intake while it is more user friendly than a food diary. Product Concept:The product consists of a weight scale and on-body sensor. The on-body sensor should be worn on the belly in an elastic band. It measures the timing of consumed food/liquids as well as the portion sizes of it (based on bowel sounds, heart rate & skin temperature). At the end of the day, the sensor should be plugged into the weight scale. Then, the user should assign the food type category to the detected food/liquid consumptions. Three food type categories are determined (by the Voedingscentrum); GO - SLOW - WHOA! ‘GO’ means a healthy food choice, ‘WHOA!’ an unhealthy food choice and ‘SLOW’ is somewhere in between. To which category a food product belongs can be looked up in a table provided by the Voedingscentrum. When confronting the user with the categories, he/ she will be more aware of his/her food choices (mindful eating). Based on the measured portion size and food type category a rough estimation of the energy intake can be made. Next to the energy intake, the on-body sensor also detects energy expenditure through physical activity (and body processes). By means of an acceleration meter, a rough estimation of energy expenditure can be made. By comparing the energy intake with the energy expenditure, the energy balance can be calculated and shown to the user. This balance is seen as a useful information since it determines whether a person loses or gains weight.

energy intake
energy expenditure
weight management
mindful eating
user studies

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:fbdf5695-75d6-4ecf-9d3a-bd60773eab53

2012-04-15

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Weekamp, A.