Apple to Donate 1,000 Apple Watches to Eating Disorder Study

Apple is donating 1,000 Apple Watches to a new study that aims to track biological changes in people with eating disorders (via CNBC).

The University of North Carolina's medical school will conduct the study, which is called BEGIN (or the Binge Eating Genetics Initiative), to better understand overeating disorders in which people eat large amounts of food uncontrollably in a small period of time.

recovery record
People who purge or engage in excessive bouts of exercise following the binge are usually diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. The study will enroll 1,000 participants of ages 18 or older who have experience with either binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa.

Each participant will be given a free Apple Watch, courtesy of Apple, so that researchers can monitor their heart rate to see if there are any spikes prior to binge eating episodes.

Enrolled participants will also sign up with a mobile app called Recovery Record, which they can use to log their thoughts and feelings, to be shared with a healthcare professional ahead of a session.

In addition, participants will receive tests to analyze their genetics and bodily bacteria that the researchers can better understand the root causes of the disease.

"We need to collect data from a whole lot of people to see what it looks like," said Cynthia Bulik, founding director of the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders and author of Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide. "We want to know if it has a biological and behavioral signature."

Ultimately, researchers hope the collected data might help them to predict binge eating episodes before they happen. Ideally, this could result in a follow-up study in which participants received some kind of alert when they were at risk of binge eating.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, at least 30 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, yet the field of research remains underfunded.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...

Top Rated Comments

max.ine Avatar
85 months ago
Interesting. I still think the health features are one of the biggest, coolest, most important things an Apple Watch (or any smartwatch) can provide right now.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
allenvanhellen Avatar
85 months ago
It's all the watch has to offer. All it's other functions are already done by your phone.
I didn’t realize my iPhone could show me notifications without my taking it out of my pocket ;)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mgauss7 Avatar
85 months ago
('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/15/apple-donate-1000-apple-watches-eating-study/')


Apple is donating 1,000 Apple Watches to a new study that aims to track biological changes in people with eating disorders (via CNBC ('https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/14/apple-is-donating-1000-watches-for-a-new-study-to-track-binge-eating.html')).

The University of North Carolina's medical school will conduct the study, which is called BEGIN ('https://www.med.unc.edu/psych/eatingdisorders/research/participate-in-a-study/begin-study/') (or the Binge Eating Genetics Initiative ('https://www.med.unc.edu/psych/eatingdisorders/research/participate-in-a-study/begin-study/')), to better understand overeating disorders in which people eat large amounts of food uncontrollably in a small period of time.



People who purge or engage in excessive bouts of exercise following the binge are usually diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. The study will enroll 1,000 participants of ages 18 or older who have experience with either binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa.

Each participant will be given a free Apple Watch, courtesy of Apple, so that researchers can monitor their heart rate to see if there are any spikes prior to binge eating episodes.

Enrolled participants will also sign up with a mobile app called Recovery Record ('https://itunes.apple.com/app/recovery-record-eating-disorder/id457360959#?platform=appleWatch'), which they can use to log their thoughts and feelings, to be shared with a healthcare professional ahead of a session.

In addition, participants will receive tests to analyze their genetics and bodily bacteria that the researchers can better understand the root causes of the disease.
Ultimately, researchers hope the collected data might help them to predict binge eating episodes before they happen. Ideally, this could result in a follow-up study in which participants received some kind of alert when they were at risk of binge eating.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, at least 30 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, yet the field of research remains underfunded ('https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5608830/').

Article Link: Apple to Donate 1,000 Apple Watches to Eating Disorder Study ('https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/15/apple-donate-1000-apple-watches-eating-study/')
I need another Apple Watch to control my obsessive purchasing in a short time of Apple products.
[doublepost=1539604215][/doublepost]Brilliant so for a $200,000 gift Apple gets 200 million worth of PR.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mw360 Avatar
85 months ago
Let me guess... Donating a 1,000 treadmills would be offensive to overweight people??

:rolleyes:
Although you don't get a free Watch, you can embark on your own little study to better understand eating disorders...by reading the article you're responding to...

People who purge or engage in excessive bouts of exercise following the binge are usually diagnosed with bulimia nervosa.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
garylapointe Avatar
85 months ago
All it's other functions are already done by your phone.
Except I do NOT need to pull out my phone! This is while driving or bicycling or in a meeting.

I can prioritize what goes to the watch and what does not. I can set silent alarms and other things to make my life a little more streamlined.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
85 months ago
You can see clearly how evident Apple is focusing on the health aspects moving forward with the Apple Watch, and serious as an issue this really is for those who may struggle with eating disorders, I think this data could be valuable to have a Better understanding of the disorder.
Jeez is that you in your profile picture? Wow.

I wonder what made Apple choose this specific disorder. Pretty cool though.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)