A recent study shows that a computer game can be used to train its players to eat less sugar, as way of reducing their weight and improving their health.

«Added sugar is one of the biggest culprits of excess calories and is also associated with several health risks including cancer,» said Forman, who also leads the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) at Drexel. «For these reasons, eliminating added sugar from a person’s diet results in weight loss and reduced risk of disease.»

As part of their study, which was recently published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, the researchers developed and evaluated a «brain training» game targeting the part of the brain that inhibits impulses with the hope that it would improve diet, specifically by decreasing the consumption of sweet foods. Think: Lumosity for your diet.

«Cognitive, or ‘brain, training’ games have been used to help people reduce unhealthy habits, like smoking,» said Forman. «We were also seeing positive results from labs using computer training programs.»

This research is the first to examine the impact of this type of «highly personalized and/or gamified inhibitory control training» on weight loss using repeated, at-home trainings, according to Forman.

Forman’s group conceptualized a game based on cognitive training and worked with Michael Wagner, a professor and head of the Digital Media department in Drexel’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, and a group of digital media students to develop it into a computer-based game, called «Diet DASH,» for purposes of the study.

Story Source: Materials provided by Drexel University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.