Food & Mood: Explorations in Technological Intervention

Over-eating is often the result of consuming food for reasons other than needing fuel and nutrients: we eat for pleasure, from habit, for emotional support. Such non-homeostatic eating is an established contributor to overeating towards overweight or obese weight gain that in turn is correlated with numerous non-communicable diseases such as Type II Diabetes Miletus. Traditionally, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and interpersonal Therapy (IPT) approaches help people develop strategies to change these eating responses, but they rely on a person deliberately reaching for those strategies: there has not been a way to provide just-in-time support: emotional eating experience triggers may not happen on a schedule. Our approach is to explore whether and how persistent sensor data may help us determine moments appropriate for intervention.