Mandome
ter, a new device developed by Cecilia Bergh, Ph.D., and Per Sodersten, Ph.D., researchers at the world-renowned Swedish academic health centre, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, can now be used to tackle childhood obesity, a growing global problem. Speeds of eating and portion size are key factors influencing weight gain. A mandometer works by monitoring these key aspects by retraining people to eat less and more slowly by providing real-time feedback during meal times.
In a study published on bmj.com, researchers at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the
University of Bristol, led by Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield, used this innovative device to carry out a trial on 106 obese patients aged between 9 and 17. They were divided into two groups, one that received standard care and the other that received Mandometer therapy to lose weight. Both groups were encouraged to engage in physical exercise for about an hour each day and eat a balanced diet based on the Food Standards Agency “eatwell plate.”
An assessment of these participants after 12 months showed the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index but they ate less – and more slowly. Their speed of eating was reduced by 11 percent compared with a gain of 4 percent in the other group. The mandometer group also showed higher levels of LDL cholesterol or good cholesterol compared to control.
The improved 
results in obesity were evident even six months after the trial, which indicated the people in the trial had changed their long-term behaviour. According to professor Hamilton-Shield, “The way that the body feels full is due to the food going into the stomach via the small intestine. From there, signals go to the hypothalamus – the part of the brain that deals with the senses and signals that you have eaten enough. If you eat too quickly, the small intestine doesn’t have the time to let the hypothalamus know you’re full.”
He further adds, “What our study shows is that if we ate fresh, nutritious food that we had cooked ourselves and then sat down to eat and enjoy our meals leisurely – rather like the French – then obesity problems would be non-existent.”
Article by Snigdha taduri for Biomed-ME