Philip Wilson and Jenna Gilchrist, shown with the sensor armband, look over some of the information it provides.

Looking to drop a few pounds? Want to learn more about how many calories you burn throughout the day?

Philip Wilson’s team is looking for you.

The associate professor of Kinesiology, along with fellow professor Diane Mack and graduate student Jenna Gilchrist, is conducting a study this summer to understand whether sensor armbands help people lose weight.

The armbands are advertised in health magazines as being a weight loss aid. Most of those who use them spend money on monthly plans that claim to help them lose weight. But no one has ever actually proven that they work, Wilson said. His team at the Behavioural Health Sciences Research Lab hopes to shed light on that.

The study is the latest in Wilson and Mack’s multiyear research project to help understand what motivates people to lose weight.

“Our ultimate goal is to figure out why people engage in different weight loss activities, and whether there is such a thing as a motivating magic bullet,” he said.

Wilson’s team is looking for men and women aged 17 and older. They’d like to hear from people who are part of commercial weight loss programs as well as those doing it on their own. Participants will wear armbands – which measures factors such as movement, heat, motion and calories burned – and keep track of the calories consumed using a calorie calculator.

Not only will participants contribute to solving the larger puzzle of human weight loss, but at the end of the week, they’ll get useful information about themselves. This includes how many calories they burn during ordinary daily activities, including sleeping.

“The armbands provide the individual with an immense amount of good, usable information,” Wilson said.

Possible participants from the Brock or Niagara communities can enrol for a week between now and the end of August. For more information, call 905-688-5550 x5564 or visit projectdines.weebly.com.

To participate, email behmed@brocku.ca

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