Wearable Health Technologies: New Frontiers in Eating and Weight-Related Problems

The emergence of wearable health technologies has revolutionized the way individuals monitor and manage their personal health. Devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches provide real-time insights into physical activities, caloric consumption, and other vital health metrics, enabling users to proactively manage their well-being. Specifically in the context of eating behaviors and weight management, wearable technologies offer novel interventions and support mechanisms. However, the psychological influences of these technologies on eating habits, including aspects like motivation, self-regulation, and the commitment to healthy behaviors, remain insufficiently explored and understood.

This Research Topic aims to investigate the psychological effects of wearable health technologies on eating behaviors and weight management. The focus is on discerning how these devices impact user motivation and the capacity to sustain healthy eating patterns. Questions to be addressed include the roles of psychological mechanisms in mediating technology-induced behavior changes and how advancements like AI-driven feedback and personalized interventions could improve outcomes for individuals facing challenges related to eating and weight.

Articles should specifically focus on psychological and technological intersections in health monitoring. The collection welcomes contributions that include but are not limited to the following themes:
• Effectiveness of wearable technologies in altering eating behaviors and aiding weight loss, gain or maintenance.
• Psychological drivers for the adoption and sustained use of wearable health devices.
• Combined interventions of wearable technology with behavioral therapies for treating eating disorders or obesity.
• Strategies to enhance user engagement and their impacts on the efficacy of wearable health technologies.
• Ethical considerations such as those related to data privacy and the psychological impacts of continuous health monitoring.

Contributions may include original research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case studies, and theoretical papers that provide new perspectives on how wearable technologies can be effectively utilized to improve health outcomes related to eating behaviors and weight management.

Keywords: Wearable Health Technologies, Eating Behavior, Weight Management, Digital Health Technologies, Behavioral Change, eHealth, Health Behavior

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.