Development of an Extended-Reality (XR)-Based Intervention to Treat Adolescent Obesity

Neal Malik, Wagner L. Prado, Sara Lappan, Mihaela Popescu, Bryan Haddock and James O. Hill
Additional contact information
Neal Malik: Department of Health Science and Human Ecology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
Wagner L. Prado: Department of Kinesiology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
Sara Lappan: Couples and Family Therapy Program, Alliant International University, Alhambra, CA 91803, USA
Mihaela Popescu: Department of Communication Studies, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
Bryan Haddock: Department of Kinesiology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
James O. Hill: Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-8

Abstract: Public health policies aimed at obesity reduction are more often directed toward adults than children. This is alarming given that rates of childhood obesity have been steadily increasing, and, if not treated early, adolescents with obesity may develop comorbidities into adulthood. Lifestyle-based interventions are the cornerstone of childhood obesity treatment. Recently, extended-reality (XR)-based interventions have been incorporated into the treatment of obesity, and parents and adolescents perceive virtual reality (VR) interventions as a promising approach to increasing physical activity levels and improving eating habits. VR is a tool that fits perfectly with contemporary adolescent culture, which is radically different from that of just two generations ago. It is plausible that an XR-based intervention for treating adolescents with obesity could have a profound influence on obesity management over the long-term. An understanding of adolescents’ preferences, wants, and needs must be considered in the development of new interventions. We suggest that VR interventions can provide a new approach to weight management for children and adolescents and provide recommendations to assess adolescents’, caregivers’, and primary care providers’ needs. These needs could then be used for the development of an XR-based intervention aimed at inducing sustained lifestyle changes in adolescents with obesity.

Keywords: obesity; adolescence; virtual reality; extended reality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4264/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4264/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4264-:d:786151

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().