Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 11, 2025
Acceptability of and Willingness to Use Virtual Reality Exergames for Weight Loss among Overweight or Obese Young Adults in China: A Qualitative Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Overweight and obesity seriously affect physical and psychological health worldwide. They are common public health issues in young adults who are considered a 'vulnerable group' prone to adopt unhealthy lifestyles that can lead to overweight and obesity. Virtual reality exergames could help to increase balance performance among Parkinson’s disease patients and improve depression and pain interference among individuals with chronic neck pain. Still, limited research has been conducted on the use of virtual reality exergames among overweight and obese young adults and their willingness and acceptability remain unclear.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the acceptability of and willingness to use virtual reality exergames for weight loss among overweight or obese young adults.
Methods:
This was a qualitative study. Sixteen young adults who were overweight or obese were recruited in Guangzhou, China and divided into four focus groups. They were interviewed between September and October 2023 through semi-structured interviews. NVivo 14 was used to transcribe, code, and thematically analyze interviews.
Results:
Four main themes and eight subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes included perception of previous weight loss measures (regarded exercise and diet as the main measures for weight loss, difficulties in holding on to the weight loss methods), acceptability of virtual reality exergames (increasing opportunities for exercise, a powerful means for propelling doing exercise, positive impact on psychological well-being, more appealing to office workers than students), willingness to use virtual reality exergames, and concerns (weight loss effect, other concerns).
Conclusions:
Virtual reality exergames were seen as beneficial for maintaining exercise and promoting psychological well-being among overweight or obese young adults, despite concerns about effectiveness, cost, and privacy. Almost all young adults indicated their willingness to try these kinds of games if given the opportunity. These findings suggested that virtual reality exergames could be a promising tool for weight management in this population.
Citation
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Copyright
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