Food Trainer

- March 14, 2017

Everyone

Health & Fitness

( 248)

Description

Do you want to eat less unhealthy food? Do you want to lose weight? Then why not try the FoodT app! Download this app and choose 3 types of food/drink you want to consume less of and then play away! Simply press the item on the screen when there’s a green circle and don’t when there’s a red circle.
By playing this game on your phone you will be a part of exciting new scientific research. Each time you play you’ll be contributing to research at The University of Exeter. This app is based on a similar online game, which was shown to reduce users’ food intake and weight after playing the game four times.

The FoodT app will ask you a few questions before and after you play so that our research team can see whether it helps you reduce your food intake, craving and weight. You will also be asked for a few basic details about yourself (age, sex) but the app will not collect any information about your identity. All the data you provide will be anonymous.
All data from the app will be sent anonymously to our researchers at the University of Exeter and so by downloading the app you consent to this (Check the terms and conditions for more information).

The current version of the app is only available in English. If successful, we will look to translate into other languages. For the latest updates and comments about the app please see our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/foodTapp/

Reviews

3.7

248 total

5 113

4 38

3 36

2 25

1 36

Sharon Willis

I'm sorry but I don't think this has been properly thought through. 1) a lot of the green foods shown are ones I don't actually like or eat (ever). If you enabled the user to pick a selection of healthy foods that you do like, then show those images, maybe that'd be better. 2) because you're showing non food items, I find I'm not taking any notice of the pictures themselves - to the point that my eyes tend to loose focus and just spot the colour of the outer ring, not what is inside 3) there's no challenge to the game so its boring 4) I made up my weight because I don't ever weigh myself. I go on clothes size and size I look. Overall, it has made absolutely no difference to my eating habits either. The principle may be good one, but definitely needs more thought.

Paul Walenesky

I'm finding this app helps me gradually overcome my mindless eating. I've found myself actually passing up the dreaded snacks left in our work break room to include the always tempting birthday cake. I've walked passed such sinful devils 2-3 times since I started this program. Behavior changing, Placebo, and subliminal or all three? I can't say, but I'm on board and seeing success and using the app daily.

Jacqui Follen

It worked very well for my husband who stopped eating chocolate within 4 days! This app encourages eating fruit and veg. Any chance you could make an app to encourage exercise??

Naomi Scobie

I found myself buying and eating more fruits and veggies and not eating chocolate without any conscious effort. I would suggest adding pictures of cooking and food preparation as I think it would help me cook more often.

Rachel Anne O'Donnell

I had a few tiny issues setting this up and used the email address to try to get help with it. I got an automated response that was not helpful for my situation. Is there a better way to contact someone for assistance?

Robin D

I think this application has A LOT of potential. I have been feeling the need to increase my water intake since I started using this a few days ago and resisting certain things has become a tiny bit easier. I already eat really healthy, the challenge will be if this application can at the very least reduce my cravings for certain foods to a more tolerable level. Also, I agree with others on this one ... It would be wonderful if you could allow for more specific choices as opposed to ,or in addition to, groupings of items. I like that you add books and art supplies to the green circles. :-) Success with your studies.

User reviews

Sharon Willis March 22, 2017

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks for your helpful feedback. We will look into allowing greater personalisation. The non-foods are unpredictable (go and no-go) to keep the game challenging and they may help us learn more about the foods.There is a slight delay between the image and border to encourage attention on the images. The game needs to be easy for effective learning.

Paul Walenesky March 16, 2017

Jacqui Follen April 25, 2017

It worked very well for my husband who stopped eating chocolate within 4 days! This app encourages eating fruit and veg. Any chance you could make an app to encourage exercise??

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks for the idea Jacqui - we could indeed try training 'go' to images of exercise and 'stop' to images of lazing around. We'll see if we have capacity to add that in the future.

Naomi Scobie March 25, 2017

Rachel Anne O'Donnell June 19, 2017

University of Exeter August 11, 2017

Hi Rachel, Sorry we didn't reply immediately but hopefully the response you got from the Food Training email address was helpful.

Robin D May 28, 2017

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks for your feedback. We think the effects of the app will be stronger in people who eat unhealthy snacks frequently and experience strong cravings, so the effects may be subtle for you! We plan to allow greater personalisation of the app in the future.

Laurna Munro March 22, 2017

It would be great to de activate choices in particular from the green section. For example I am allergic to kiwifruit so feel very uncomfortable pressing it.

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks for your feedback and sorry to hear about the allergy issue. We will look into allowing greater personalisation of go and no-go foods in the future.

funtimes 916 July 17, 2017

I don't understand...when viewing the red and green choices, the same picture in the same sequence can be both red and green, sometimes right after the other. That doesn't make sense to me.

University of Exeter August 11, 2017

Some items (not food but things like pens) can be both red and green - this is deliberate. It makes the game more challenging and may improve how much you learn about the foods (which are consistently red or green).

L Small March 16, 2017

Can you make it more individualizable? Is that a word:) for instance I don't want crackers or rice cakes

anton ishmurzin July 20, 2017

Very helpful, you stop eating the wrong stuff. The most important thing is that it happens WITHOUT your conscious effort.

Ayal Gersh March 23, 2017

Ridiculous. Simple as that. Sorry. Not worth the megabytes.

Kristine Guidetti March 22, 2017

Good ..could be great. Also change up the pics or make more interesting maybe, more customizing, but I do think it works. Hope they make it better. I like it.

Gwyneth Reynolds May 7, 2017

I find that if I try to do this twice a day it does work and stops me eating unhealthy foods

Linda D. Deaville April 17, 2017

The app has somehow made me stop and think before reaching for the cheese when I open the fridge . I shall continue to play the game as I'm sure it helped -and I've lost two pounds!

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Great - the idea is that the app slows down your automatic 'reaching' response towards no-go foods and then gives you time to think. I hope it continues to be helpful.

Marcelina Popa April 17, 2017

It really helps me buying and eating more vegetables and less junk food. I also lost 2 kg in a week.

April 27, 2017

It definitively helped reducing cravings. Just give it two minutes and some perseverance.

Toni Covington July 6, 2017

It's subtle, but I find that I can walk away from the bad snacks.

erick gonzalez martinez March 21, 2017

Working out great. I think No clothes and other items would be better

Lynne craddock May 1, 2017

Works, but wish you could choose more addition specific groups

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks Lynne - please tell us what kind of additional foods/groups you'd like to see in the app and we'll see what we can do in the future.

Kathi April 29, 2017

It's like magic. It's a great way to interrupt a habit of mindless eating

Alexander Grabovets March 22, 2017

Good idea for those who wants to become addicted to healthy food

Norma MacCormack May 4, 2017

I definitely think it works. I'd like to know more about the correlation between speed and accuracy.

University of Exeter June 16, 2017

Thanks Norma. Usually there is a 'trade-off' where higher accuracy is associated with slower speed. We are interested in whether people who show a bigger improvement in speed and accuracy over their days of training also show a bigger reduction in weight and snacking: This might tell us whether stronger learning of responses to food is better.

Abdullaallsaad March 21, 2017

Thanks University of Extere شكرا جامعة إكستر

Margaret Wilkinson April 17, 2017

Hi it has help me to eat less sweet foods

P Knotts April 20, 2017

I find I am more mindful of food choices.

March 15, 2017

Would be better without clothes and accessories

Mustafa Trand April 24, 2017

Great

January 18, 2017

Apprehension! I was surprised to be asked my height in feet and inches, and my weight in stones, pounds and ounces in this age of metric measurements when you are collecting my personal data. A direct feed into instructions would be helpful to avoid anyone going immediately into the selections. 2 of 2 people did this. What is the best time of day to do the selections? Mid-morning, mid-afternoon? Mid-way between meals? It would be helpful to know this because yesterday I was asked to do this just after having a meal.

University of Exeter January 24, 2017

You can add your height and weight in metric or imperial (click the green circle) We suggest that you complete the training just before a meal or when you experience a craving. You should complete the training in a quiet environment if possible, to increase effectiveness. Further details can be found under the instruction section of the app.

Nicole Heffel January 23, 2017

I have been playing for one week now. I still crave candy and sweets, but opted for veggies as a side dish instead of carbs. I feel like the timing should start to speed up the more you play. Maybe it is supposed to be slow. I also don't care for all of the preliminary questions. I usually do this just after breakfast and while enjoying my coffee. Will keep playing because it isn't painful and I am optimistic that it can help for the better.

University of Exeter January 24, 2017

The reason it stays the same is because the game needs to be easy enough for players to stop successfully to the red circle foods. Studies have shown that making the game harder stops it working so well - it's the "stopping" that counts! We are looking into other ways to make the game a bit more interesting for users.

Mihaela Onu February 3, 2017

When I first tried this application I was not very impressed with it. I persevered, though, and I noticed that this app can organize my behavior in eating, for example, having to answer each time at the question about being tempted or not by something to eat made myself restraining somehow on the food during the day. I have been using this app for 10 days and lost 1.5 kg. I feel better in my own skin now.

Caleb Conger January 16, 2017

Anticipation I read an article about this app and when it would be released. I've been very excited to give it a shot and so far so good. It's very sneaky and really does seem to be working for me. I don't think it's supposed to be the end all diet fixer but more like supplemental to an individuals choice to better themselves and not weigh four thousand pounds. Thank you for assisting me in not being the size of a bus!

Jon Reeve January 16, 2017

Please fix the back stack Could use a bit of work to make it look more like an Android app than a web page, but I know it's a science experiment, not the latest social network hotness. However, the back stack is a real usability issue, should be fixed. Cool idea tho, interested to see how well it works.

Tanya T January 16, 2017

Interesting Concept Not exactly sure if this will work, or how, but I'll give it a go. The inclusion of images of non-foodstuffs is a bit odd, but I'm interested to see where this goes. Simple game, and if it works it could help so many people!

University of Exeter January 24, 2017

The inclusion of non-food pictures is to make the game a little less predictable. Including these kinds of pictures actually helps the brain to learn the unhealthy food = stop associations. This is because, in comparison to the non-food pictures, the unhealthy foods are much more consistently associated with stopping in the game!

Emma Davies February 5, 2017

I'm not sure if this is actually possible but since using this app my desire to smoke cigarettes had decreased. Maybe it's just a coincidence but just wondering if it could be the app? I have found its helped with choosing healthy foods slightly but I'm still craving suger.

January 19, 2017

I've been doing this for 4 days now. I've had zero inclination to want any junk food. To be honest, it's felt a little alarming as to how I've gone from being someone with very little will power to resisting all things sweet to looking at cakes etc and not even being interested. I'm not complaining, but I'm certainly feeling a little unsettled as to how effective this seems to have been on me!

Grant Ashton January 17, 2017

Red Green Colour Blind I struggle to distinguish red and green when they're not in large blocks. The circles in the app are too thin for me to tell the colour and so I make lots of mistakes on the non-food objects. Would it be possible to change one of the colours to help the colour blind?

University of Exeter January 24, 2017

We are currently working on an update for the app to allow a setting for people who are colour blind. If you have an Android 5.0 or higher you can use the colour correction feature under the accessibility section to change the display. Follow this link for further details: https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151850?hl=en-GB

Karen Speakman February 3, 2017

It had potential to be good and I think the idea is interesting but it's the same every time so pretty pointless. I don't understand the clothes and items being included.

January 21, 2017

Finally something with some evidence behind it! Not a snazzy game but seems to do the trick. Thanks!

Mauso January 16, 2017

Thought it was for food? Being shown pictures of school supplies and clothing doesn't make any sense if it's for food.

Charlie Kravetz February 15, 2017

This, surprisingly, really does helpless to eat less junk food.

What's New

We have added some new features and information:

(1) New users are invited to take the 'app tour' to become familiar with the FoodT features.

(2) We added an accessibility mode for those who experience red-green colour blindness.

(3) More ways to engage with our users: new links added to our website and Facebook page.

Plus some bug fixing, including smoother transition between screens and fixed an issue with notifications stopping for some users.

Additional information

Updated

March 14, 2017

Installs

50,000 - 100,000

Current Version

1.1

Requires Android

2.3 and up

Content Rating

Everyone

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Offered By

University of Exeter

Developer

Visit website Email foodtraining@exeter.ac.uk

Software Manager, Software Services University of Exeter Laver Building, North Park Road, Streatham, Exeter, EX4 4QE

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