New Weapon Against Obesity — The ‘Bite Counter’
- Posted on August 23, 2011 at 4:30am by
Liz Klimas
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A device developed initially by Clemson University to be used to track military teams while they were clearing insurgents out of buildings, could now be used in one of America’s biggest battles: the ever growing battle against obesity.
The Bite Counter is a wrist-watch that tracks how many hand to mouth actions the user makes, much like a pedometer counts steps. But USA Today reports that it’s a bit more complex:
But putting fork to mouth is more complex than walking. “A pedometer can‘t tell what kind of motion you’re making. This tracks a very specific motion,” said Adam Hoover, an electrical engineering professor who handled the technical aspects of the design.
The wrist rotation necessary to move a fork from plate to mouth turns out to be the critical motion in eating; the machine counts bites with 90% accuracy, he says.
. . .
Hoover and his co-inventor, psychologist Eric Muth, have found that one bite generally averages about 25 calories.
The Bite Counter is expected to run about $100 when it reaches the commercial market. But, it’s not a cure all. The user will have to know the difference between healthy and unhealthy food. The Bite Counter is really just a tool for portion control.
Watch this video to see the Bite Counter in action:
It‘s important to note that the device isn’t as accurate if the user takes excessively large bites.
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Comments (43)
numbers
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 5:21pmDid Michelle Obama fund this counter so she could police us more effectively? Will we get tickets from bite cops? I wouldn’t pay $1 for one let alone $100.
Report Post »Charlie Justice
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 4:06pmEducated idiots.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 4:56pmWow, like that will work unless it has about 50,000 volts of shock to make the wearer stop, or at least change eating hands when you his your 25 calorie max. For me, that would be about 25 fork-fulls. For Mooshelle, it would be about 75 shovel-fulls. Personally, I’ll stick to simple, healthy eating habits. For Mooshelle, I doubt the shock would have any affect – but hey, she has nice arms.
Report Post »Vechorik
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 3:45pmIt’s the same thing as some people wear to count steps. Click, click, click — that’s the sound of your money going down the drain. LOL
Report Post »jcannon98188
Posted on August 24, 2011 at 12:35pmActually my family got free pedometers from my dads company. So no money lost here.
Report Post »Brontefan
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 3:12pmUntil the government does something about the growth hormones being fed to the animals we eat… I see no point to all this talk about obesity.
Report Post »Londryfairy
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 1:37pmYou guys are so focused on the fat part you are missing the truly ridiculous part…it counts. For a hundred dollars, a person can save themselves the trouble of counting. In truth tho, what you monitor, you manage. To make it a fabulous accessory however, it needs to flash green for the first 75 bites, yellow for the next 25, then red the rest of the day. How would you eat with a flashing red light in your face carried there with each bite. If the next ad uses this idea, ya’ll are my witnesses, they owe me big time.
Report Post »BillyPenn
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 12:43pmIf only I was unscrupulous and smart, I could make billions with this ad. I will reveal my weight loss secret 100 % guarantee that it will work. Send $ 5.00 for my secret. Here is the secret. If you don’t want to be fat, don’t eat fat. What part don’t you understand ?
Report Post »diceman029
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 12:40pmIt cant tell you how many cals you have eaten by how many bits you have taken. 10 bites of fried chicken will have more cals that 10 bites of watermelon.
Report Post »BillyPenn
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 12:38pmWon’t work if ya have a big mouth !
Report Post »coffeeking425
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 11:57amLOL! What a joke. Listen, everyone thinks they’re a genius about weight gain/loss especially poeple that need to lose weight, or so I’ve noticed. I’ve been an athlete my entire life, (2 sport D1 if that means anything to ya) I know a thing or two about weight problems. This counter, is like any other, fake. Switch to cereal for a meal each day, smaller servings overall, and do 30 mins of cardio 130 bpms +. You’ll drop weight, period.
Report Post »DallyWama
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 11:39amFat people will use the bite counter like they do their ab roller and treadmill.
Some tub-o-lards were born that way. There is nothing they can do about it.
Fat women all over the world will compare bite counter bites at the water cooler.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:45amWow love all the responses
Report Post »dont know when i laughed so hard and
it is not even about obama
well not directly…
W@nd@
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:40amDeannare and Jack of Hearts
Report Post »are you selling these devices?
or related to the inventor?
jhaydeng
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:41amWhat a waste of monetary resources!!!
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:47amNo, I guess we just can’t get hysterically upset about a product. Not overweight are we Wanda? (Smiles knowingly) – try not to take these Blaze stories seriously. I did try to raise the tone in a previous post – ideas that were initially written off – but I think that may have gone over your head.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:53amBoy that is the truth – and who wants a device that does really work all the time – does that make any sense to anyone? http://wp.me/pYLB7-1xY
Report Post »DeannaRae
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:07pmW@nd@, read the article carefully…. they’re not being sold yet. And I don’t know the inventor or anyone involved in this. I’m just a little surprised by the level of hostility in the comments. I think there are a lot of products out there that are worthless to me, but there’s somebody who appreciates them.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:35amYancie you said a mouthful!
Report Post »i was thinking the same thing
i had 4 brothers
that could inhale a meal in 4 seconds flat…
look for seconds
before we had taken our first bite! LOL
Then Longingly Eyeball our plates as we ate!
wonder what their caloric intake was…?
HorseCrazy
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:33amas a smoker I am way happy that fat people are getting the flack from everyone now. I have had dirty looks for the last 10 years since we started crucifying people for their personal choices. Let the fat wars begin.
Report Post »April
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:25amThe only thing that will help obesity is very simple = Personal Responsibility.
This is just a bad infomercial, in other words, people are too stupid to know how many calories they put in their mouths so they need this. Another hand-holding gimmick.
People “Choose” how much they wish to put in their mouth – no one else makes them. Unless your of liberal thought and it’s the taxpayers fault as usual.
Report Post »W@nd@
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:21amocd device
Report Post »also counts how many times
they turn the light switch on and off !
plus how many calories you burn doing same ….
((((lm@o)))))
can we say all say worthless!
Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:27amNo, but the free market can give its verdict. How many other products are there that were thought “worthless” when they came out? OK – suggestions for the most valuable invention once thought worthless…..
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 12:35pmJack,
The paperclip…worthless now with the paperless world, or still worth something…
I’ll go for the 3M post it note…yeah.
Report Post »scrapman
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:53amIt blows me away to think of all the money spent to lose weight when all you haft to do is keep your mouth shut.
Report Post »DarkFire
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:32amhey fatty want to loose weight? GET OFF YOUR ASS AND STOP WATCHING TV ALL DAY!
and to everyone else, ATTENTION – people on tv and in magazines are all fake to begin with, so get over trying to fit in a cherrio and love life.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:57amA commedian once said, (maybe Robin Williams?) It’s not your thyroid, it’s that this hole (pointing to mouth) is bigger than this hole (pointing to rear).
I can see the government under Obama mandating that everyone wear one, and limiting the number of bites. Anyone remember the science fiction movie Logan’s Run? Everyone had a crystal in their palm that changed colors every 7 years. At 35 it turned black and you were supposed to turn yourself in to die.
Report Post »nolibtards2012
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:32amBite THIS! (_o_)
Report Post »DeannaRae
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:29amAmazing hostility toward a simple product. Maybe it will help some people to control their weight, maybe it won’t be much use, but let the market bring it on and see if it survives. This is what we do – invent, market, sell and hopefully make some money. If people don’t want it, it will fail. I don’t see that govt funds are being used to bring it to market, so what is all the hostility about? We’d be better to use that emotion toward something that actually matters.
Report Post »Cerealface
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:47amA giant wristband that tells people how much they ate …
I‘m sure that’ll stop people from eating.
Report Post »DeannaRae
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:59am@cerealface. That’s not the point. You can’t tell if it will be a help or if it will be successful, but why not give it a try? It’s just another American invention. Thank God for the free market and it‘s successes AND it’s failures.
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:15amTotally agree with you – invent, market, sell. At least this article may give it some publicity. Really don’t understand why people have a problem with this – if you don’t want it, don’t buy it.
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 10:41amOf course we have a free market and a company has the right to sell this. And I also have the right to say I think it’s a stupid product that will only cause women (Yes, I target women because can you see a man using this? Not me.) to become more obsessed with the Hollywood ideal rather than just living a healthy life, eating healthy food and exercising.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:23amIs this how we’re going to control population—keep people from eating hoping they die in the proess? Maybe we should control these airheads and their useless expenditure of capital –now there wold be something important !
Report Post »firstHat
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 1:34pmI have one doctor who, when I complained that I’d gained weight, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “We’ll be the ones who survive when the famine comes.”
Bless his heart!
Oh, and BTW….it turned out that I had a dangerously low thyroid… not that I’ve lost much since we corrected that :-)
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:16amWhat a waste of time and resources. Don’t worry about self dicipline, just wait for someone to show you how not to overindulge.
Report Post »poorrichard09
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:14amBite THIS!
Report Post »one years food ration like glenn says
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:08amI have an Idea, just stop eating all together That will satisfy them insatiable obsessed liberal POS’s.. No it won’t never mind..
Report Post »javasport
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 8:40amIt isn’t accurate if you are masticating on buttersticks….mmmmm butter
Report Post »yancie
Posted on August 23, 2011 at 9:32amLmao yeah what if we were eating a triple burger from Wendy’s and it only took 5 bites. And shoved 10 fries in our mouth at once the whole meal would only be 200 calories.
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