How Does Eating Behavior and Hunger in Virtual Reality Meals Compare to Real Meals?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Hunger
• Interventions: Behavioral: Virtual food; Behavioral: Real food

• Registration Number: NCT05734209
• Lead Sponsor: Karolinska Institutet

Brief Summary

Objective: To investigate the differences between eating virtual and real-life meals and test the hypothesis that eating a virtual meal can reduce hunger among healthy women.

Methods: Twenty healthy women will be recruited and partake in a randomized crossover study. The subjects will be asked to eat one introduction meal, two real meals, and two virtual meals, all containing real or virtual meatballs and potatoes. The real meals will be eaten on a plate placed on a scale which communicates with analytical software on a computer. The virtual meals will be eaten in a room, where participants are seated on a real chair in front of a real table, and fitted with the virtual-reality equipment. The eating behavior for both the real and virtual meals will be filmed. Hunger will be measured before and after the meals using questionnaires.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-10-03
• Primary Completion: 2022-06-09
• Study Completion: 2022-06-09
• Study First Submitted: 2022-12-15
• Status Verified: 2023-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-02-15
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-02-15
• Study First Posted: 2023-02-17
• Last Update Posted: 2023-02-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 24

Inclusion Criteria

• BMI between 18.5 kg/m2 to 29 kg/m2
• "normal" physical activity (measured using the short version of the international physical activity questionnaire, IPAQ)

Exclusion Criteria

• pregnant or breastfeeding
• smoker
• temporomandibular disorder
• recent serious dental surgery (last 6 months)
• undergoing treatments known to affect appetite (e.g., use of some psychotropic drugs)
• previous history of eating disorders
• vegetarian
• aversion to the food served

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Real, then virtual meal	Real food	Participant first had two lunch sessions eating real food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days. Participants then had two lunch sessions eating virtual food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days.
Virtual, then real meal	Virtual food	Participant first had two lunch sessions eating virtual food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days. Participants then had two lunch sessions eating real food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days.
Virtual, then real meal	Real food	Participant first had two lunch sessions eating virtual food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days. Participants then had two lunch sessions eating real food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days.
Real, then virtual meal	Virtual food	Participant first had two lunch sessions eating real food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days. Participants then had two lunch sessions eating virtual food (meal), with a wash-out period of three days.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Difference in hunger before to after meal	Before to after meal (on average around 10 minutes)	Rated on visual analogue scale (range 0 - 100)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Additions	During meal (around 10 minutes)	Number of times the participant added food to the plate
Food intake	During meal (around 10 minutes)	Grams of food ingested
Meal duration	During meal (around 10 minutes)	Minute duration of the meal
Chews	During meal (around 10 minutes)	Number of times the participant chewed the food
Forkfuls	During meal (around 10 minutes)	Number of times participant took food from the plate

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Karolinska Institutet; 🇸🇪 Stockholm, Huddinge, Sweden