How is started

After losing an 18-year-old patient who battled obesity, Dr. Yolandra Hancock was inspired to create M-SizeMe. As a seasoned pediatrician and obesity expert, her passion is to overcome the damaging — and deadly — effects of obesity in children and adolescents.

How it works

M-SizeMe shows adolescents how behavior changes, such as cutting out sugary drinks each day, can change weight via a 3-D avatar. It allows them to track their weight goals in real time, while providing a dual interface with health care providers via the software and patient app.

Patients achieve their goals through gamification and interactions with other end-users. It’s like MyFitnessPal meets Candy Crush! They’re incentivized to achieve their goals through earning points, daily challenges and encouragement from other users and their health care providers.

M-SizeMe — the only pediatrician-developed technology to combat childhood obesity — assists doctors who often don’t have time and resources to conduct thorough exams. It’s especially for patients who lack health literacy to understand the tools and don’t find them culturally relatable.

Ultimately, M-SizeMe can transform a community — undergirded by community-based participatory research and improved with high quality education, food security, abundant access to affordable health care and a thriving economy. 

What’s next

The groundbreaking technology will first be implemented in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia with $601,000 revenue for 20% of the market share. It’ll then be expanded into the mid-Atlantic by year three and nationally by year four, targeting the 20 largest health insurance companies.

What’s needed

Funding to build a team and solid prototype