{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T01:07:21Z","timestamp":1791594441602,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,21]],"date-time":"2024-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732147200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Simple obesity has become an increasingly prevalent health concern among college students. Existing research indicates that traditional exercise methods may not sufficiently engage this population, particularly those facing barriers to regular physical activity. Thus, this study investigated how combining VR cycling with music influenced fat reduction in this population.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study recruited 78 Chinese college students with simple obesity (BMI\u2009\u2265\u200928\u2009kg\/m<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>) and randomly assigned them to either an experimental group (VR cycling combined with music, <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200941) or a control group (traditional cycling, <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200937). Both groups engaged in 12\u2009weeks of cycling training, three times a week, for 45\u2009min per session. Key physiological indicators, such as weight, BMI, waist circumference, and hip circumference, were measured at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The VR cycling with music group exhibited significant improvements in key physiological metrics compared to the control group. Notable changes included a 4.1% reduction in weight, a 2.8% decrease in BMI, and a 2.8% reduction in waist circumference. Hip circumference also decreased by 2.5%, while the waist-to-hip ratio dropped by 0.016 units. Furthermore, the intervention led to a 7.2% increase in vital capacity, with all outcomes showing statistical significance (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.01). The experimental group also reported higher levels of enjoyment and engagement throughout the intervention period.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Participants in the experimental group experienced significant reductions in weight, BMI, and both waist and hip circumferences, as well as a notable improvement in vital capacity. The study highlights that combining virtual reality cycling with music resulted in more substantial weight loss and fat reduction in obese college students, compared to traditional cycling methods.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1466142","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,21]],"date-time":"2024-11-21T06:25:14Z","timestamp":1732170314000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The effect of Virtual Reality Cycling with Music on simple obesity in college students: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Meng","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Lei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziran","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104754","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compbiomed.2021.104754","article-title":"A systematic literature review on obesity: understanding the causes & consequences of obesity and reviewing various machine learning approaches used to predict obesity","volume":"136","author":"Safaei","year":"2021","journal-title":"Comput Biol Med"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1002\/oby.22378","article-title":"Obesity as a disease: the obesity society 2018 position statement","volume":"27","author":"Jastreboff","year":"2019","journal-title":"Obesity"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1186\/s12967-019-1919-y","article-title":"Why primary obesity is a disease?","volume":"17","author":"De Lorenzo","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Transl Med"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1155\/2019\/5796381","article-title":"Mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for simple obesity: an evidence-based review of clinical and animal studies on simple obesity","volume":"2019","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7425","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph110707425","article-title":"Prevalence of overweight\/obesity and its associated factors among university students from 22 countries","volume":"11","author":"Peltzer","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"914","DOI":"10.1017\/S0007114521001483","article-title":"Risk factors of overweight\/obesity-related lifestyles in university students: results from the EHU12\/24 study","volume":"127","author":"Telleria-Aramburu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Br J Nutr"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-023-17389-7","article-title":"Prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity among medical students from the Western Balkans (South-East Europe region)","volume":"24","author":"Ili\u0107","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/07448481.2023.2225629","article-title":"Health, health behaviors, and medical care utilization among college students with obesity","volume":"12","author":"Hayes","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Am Coll Heal"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"444","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-08517-8","article-title":"The association between BMI and health-related physical fitness among Chinese college students: a cross-sectional study","volume":"20","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref11","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1140","DOI":"10.3390\/nu10091140","article-title":"Acute and chronic effects of exercise on appetite, energy intake, and appetite-related hormones: the modulating effect of adiposity, sex, and habitual physical activity","volume":"10","author":"Dorling","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"202","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-789x.2009.00653.x","article-title":"Physical activity, fitness and fatness: relations to mortality, morbidity and disease risk factors. 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