Chen Yanya, Guan Bingsheng, Zhang Yaqi, Lee Suen Chow, Liu Jia-Yu, Li Sicun, Liu Ming, Zhang Xiaoshen, Ming Wai-Kit
School of Nursing, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, To Yuen Building, 31 To Yuen Street, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong), 852 34426956.
JMIR Serious Games. 2025 May 1;13:e66998. doi: 10.2196/66998.
Overweight and obesity seriously affect physical and psychological health worldwide. They are common public health issues in young adults who are considered a "vulnerable group" prone to adopt unhealthy lifestyles that can lead to overweight and obesity. Virtual reality exergames could help increase balance performance among patients with Parkinson disease and improve depression and pain interference among individuals with chronic neck pain. Still, limited research has been conducted on the use of virtual reality exergames among young adults with overweight and obesity, and their willingness and acceptability remain unclear.
This study aimed to assess the acceptability of and willingness to use virtual reality exergames for weight loss among young adults with overweight or obesity.
This was a qualitative study. Sixteen young adults with overweight or obesity were recruited in Guangzhou, China, and divided into 4 focus groups. They were interviewed between September and October 2023 through semistructured interviews. NVivo (version 14; Lumivero) was used to transcribe, code, and thematically analyze interviews.
Four main themes and 8 subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes included perception of previous weight loss measures (regarded exercise and diet as the main measures for weight loss and difficulties in holding on to the weight loss methods), acceptability of virtual reality exergames (increasing opportunities for exercise, a powerful means for propelling doing exercise, positive impact on psychological well-being, and more appealing to office workers than students), willingness to use virtual reality exergames, and concerns (weight loss effect and other concerns).
Virtual reality exergames were seen as beneficial for maintaining exercise and promoting psychological well-being among young adults with overweight or obesity, despite concerns about effectiveness, cost, and privacy. Almost all young adults indicated their willingness to try these kinds of games if given the opportunity. These findings suggested that virtual reality exergames could be a promising tool for weight management in this population.
超重和肥胖在全球范围内严重影响身心健康。它们是年轻人中常见的公共卫生问题，这些年轻人被视为“弱势群体”，容易养成导致超重和肥胖的不健康生活方式。虚拟现实健身游戏有助于提高帕金森病患者的平衡能力，并改善慢性颈痛患者的抑郁和疼痛干扰。然而，针对超重和肥胖的年轻人使用虚拟现实健身游戏的研究仍然有限，他们的意愿和接受度尚不清楚。
本研究旨在评估超重或肥胖的年轻人对使用虚拟现实健身游戏减肥的接受度和意愿。
这是一项定性研究。在中国广州招募了16名超重或肥胖的年轻人，并将他们分成4个焦点小组。在2023年9月至10月期间，通过半结构化访谈对他们进行了访谈。使用NVivo（第14版；Lumivero）对访谈进行转录、编码和主题分析。
数据中出现了4个主要主题和8个子主题。主要主题包括对以往减肥措施的认知（将运动和饮食视为主要减肥措施以及坚持减肥方法的困难）、虚拟现实健身游戏的可接受性（增加锻炼机会、推动锻炼的有力手段、对心理健康的积极影响以及对上班族比对学生更有吸引力）、使用虚拟现实健身游戏的意愿以及担忧（减肥效果和其他担忧）。
尽管对效果、成本和隐私存在担忧，但虚拟现实健身游戏被认为有利于超重或肥胖的年轻人维持锻炼并促进心理健康。几乎所有年轻人都表示，如果有机会，他们愿意尝试这类游戏。这些发现表明，虚拟现实健身游戏可能是该人群体重管理的一个有前景的工具。
