Glympi Alkyoni, Odegi Dorothy, Zandian Modjtaba, Södersten Per, Bergh Cecilia, Langlet Billy
Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Center for Alzheimer Research, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mandometer Clinics, Stockholm, Sweden.
JMIR Serious Games. 2023 Aug 10;11:e44348. doi: 10.2196/44348.
Eating disorders and obesity are serious health problems with poor treatment outcomes and high relapse rates despite well-established treatments. Several studies have suggested that virtual reality technology could enhance the current treatment outcomes and could be used as an adjunctive tool in their treatment.
This study aims to investigate the differences between eating virtual and real-life meals and test the hypothesis that eating a virtual meal can reduce hunger among healthy women.
The study included 20 healthy women and used a randomized crossover design. The participants were asked to eat 1 introduction meal, 2 real meals, and 2 virtual meals, all containing real or virtual meatballs and potatoes. The real meals were eaten on a plate that had been placed on a scale that communicated with analytical software on a computer. The virtual meals were eaten in a room where participants were seated on a real chair in front of a real table and fitted with the virtual reality equipment. The eating behavior for both the real and virtual meals was filmed. Hunger was measured before and after the meals using questionnaires.
There was a significant difference in hunger from baseline to after the real meal (mean difference=61.8, P<.001) but no significant change in hunger from before to after the virtual meal (mean difference=6.9, P=.10). There was no significant difference in food intake between the virtual and real meals (mean difference=36.8, P=.07). Meal duration was significantly shorter in the virtual meal (mean difference=-5.4, P<.001), which led to a higher eating rate (mean difference=82.9, P<.001). Some participants took bites and chewed during the virtual meal, but the number of bites and chews was lower than in the real meal. The meal duration was reduced from the first virtual meal to the second virtual meal, but no significant difference was observed between the 2 real meals.
Eating a virtual meal does not appear to significantly reduce hunger in healthy individuals. Also, this methodology does not significantly result in eating behaviors identical to real-life conditions but does evoke chewing and bite behavior in certain individuals.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05734209, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05734209.
饮食失调和肥胖是严重的健康问题，尽管有成熟的治疗方法，但治疗效果不佳且复发率高。多项研究表明，虚拟现实技术可以改善当前的治疗效果，并可作为治疗的辅助工具。
本研究旨在调查食用虚拟餐和现实餐之间的差异，并验证食用虚拟餐可减轻健康女性饥饿感的假设。
该研究纳入了20名健康女性，采用随机交叉设计。参与者被要求食用1份介绍餐、2份现实餐和2份虚拟餐，所有餐食均包含真实或虚拟的肉丸和土豆。现实餐在放置于秤上的盘子中食用，秤与计算机上的分析软件相连。虚拟餐在一个房间内食用，参与者坐在真实桌子前的真实椅子上，并配备虚拟现实设备。对现实餐和虚拟餐的进食行为进行拍摄。用餐前后通过问卷测量饥饿程度。
从基线到现实餐后饥饿感有显著差异（平均差异=61.8，P<0.001），但从虚拟餐用餐前到用餐后饥饿感无显著变化（平均差异=6.9，P=0.10）。虚拟餐和现实餐的食物摄入量无显著差异（平均差异=36.8，P=0.07）。虚拟餐的用餐时间显著更短（平均差异=-5.4，P<0.001），这导致进食速度更高（平均差异=82.9，P<0.001）。一些参与者在虚拟餐期间会咬和咀嚼，但咬和咀嚼的次数低于现实餐。用餐时间从第一份虚拟餐到第二份虚拟餐有所减少，但两份现实餐之间未观察到显著差异。
食用虚拟餐似乎不会显著减轻健康个体的饥饿感。此外，这种方法不会显著导致与现实生活条件相同的进食行为，但确实会在某些个体中引发咀嚼和咬的行为。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05734209，https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05734209 。
