In A New Study, Video Games Helped People Lose Weight
June 1969 Popular Science archivesPatients who learned weight maintenance techniques through the game "Second Life" were more likely to keep the weight off. Videogames and weight loss are an odd pairing, but in a study, researchers found the game "Second Life" might have some applications for weight loss--or at least weight "maintenance." A team from The University of Kansas Medical Center took 20 overweight or obese people and put them through a three-month weight loss program, in which they either visited a weight-loss clinic or virtually met with nutritionists via headsets in "Second Life." After three months, both groups of patients got another six months of weight maintenance training--coaching on how to keep the pounds off--through the game. The people who took the weight loss training through "Second Life" ended up losing a comparable amount of weight to people in the more traditional, clinic-based program. But when comparing the virtual...