Wireless support system for personal weight management

Obesity is a widespread and increasing problem in industrialized countries. An in-creasing number of people in these countries are trying to loose weight. Self-monitoring combined with feedback and guidelines can significantly contribute to a successful weight management. We used weight management as a first application in a study on how current wireless information and communications technologies could help in self-monitoring. We implemented a self-monitoring and guidance system using wireless technologies (Wireless Local Area Network). A scale, heart rate monitor, mobile device (mobile phone or handheld computer) and personal computer (PC) communicate wirelessly creat-ing a home network, which minimizes the user efforts required for measurements and feedback. The system is based on the idea of behavioral feedback model. The model states that the feedback and guidelines should be accessible whenever and wherever needed. When the user measures his weight, the measurement results are stored automatically on the PC and feedback is given immediately to the user. The guidelines and weight his-tory can be read with a mobile device at home and even when away from home. The results of the project indicate that such a wireless system can make self-monitoring more efficient.