Gamified Wearables in Obesity Therapy for Youth

Introduction: Obesity in children has become a global phenomenon. Most of the existing programs have only limited effects and often require an expensive and laborious multi-professional therapy. The aim of this study was to examine which guidelines for gamified wearables can be developed into an effective tool for weight loss and long-term behavior changes within children. Methods: The paper comprises a literature analysis and qualitative research design. Open-ended questionnaires were distributed to 3 clinicians and 18 children and analyzed using MaxQDA. Three independent variables age, gender and BMI were considered. Results: The research has identified four fundamental guidelines for gamified wearables for which a prototype was developed. These guidelines are in short: practical obesity management tool, appealing game-approach, challenging rewards and positive education. Personal emotional support was theoretically a fifth guideline but is not supported. Results could not reliably answer whether long-term behavior change can be triggered through gamified wearables.