Children to get texts to help lose weight
Whilst technology has been blamed for the rise in childhood obesity – the lure of video games mean children are exercising less – it is now being used to help obese children in American lose weight, reports the Times.
In a trial being carried out by the University of Southern California, 50 teenagers are to be hooked up to a “mobile body area network” that will monitor their vital statistics, including heart rate and blood glucose levels. This information will then be sent back to computers at the university to be processed, to determine what the child is doing. If the data shows that the child is inactive or lethargic they will be sent a text, encouraging them to take some exercise.
It’s hoped the technology could eventually be rolled out as a commercial venture to help people lose weight.
