Rita Orji

"The truth in life is that if you are somebody that has not seen money before if you see money you’ll start shaking."

"So I want to beg the people of Ajegunle, don’t allow people use you to stop good projects."

"I am a Nigerian and a doctorate student in the department of computer science in the University of Saskatchewan."

"I am under the mentorship of Dr. Julita Vassileva and Dr. Regan Mandryk."

"My primary research focus is on the influence of persuasive technology in the prevention of chronic metabolic diseases through lifestyle change, particularly the prevention of obesity."

"I was awarded a Canadian government Vanier scholarship to conduct research on the design of persuasive technologies for healthy lifestyle change with a specific focus on obesity prevention."

"How behaviours are formed and how they can be altered."

"They are not well integrated into people's daily lives and therefore face the problems of adoption and maintenance."

"They are not cost effective and therefore face the problem of long-term sustainability."

"They are based on the assumption that humans are rational beings and will always act to maximize benefit and reduce risk."

"I'm here to speak on health promotion and disease prevention."

"I'll be sharing the knowledge I've gained from studying relevant literatures and from some research experiences."

"I've had in actively working in this area over the past two years."

"When it comes to lifestyle, we cannot assume that humans will necessarily behave rationally."

"Rational people would change their behaviours when exposed to convincing information about the negative effects on their health."

"Most lifestyle related health challenges, including obesity, that we experience today."

"Considering the widespread health education and health campaigns, yet this is not the case, it is very hard to make people stop smoking, eat healthfully, and exercise regularly."

"It has attracted attention from both governmental and non-governmental bodies."

"According to measured height and weight data from both the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey and the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey."

"As of 2008 it was reported that approximately 61% of Canadian adults and 30% of Canadian teens are either overweight or obese."

"A successful intervention for changing human behaviour should be based on the understanding of how behaviours are formed and how they can be altered."

"A promising approach to health promotion and disease prevention that has emerged recently is persuasive technology."

"The goal is to design technology that would change human behaviours or attitudes."

"“Equality is not about men, it’s also not about women; it’s about providing a nurturing environment where people of diverse traits can maximize their potential.”"

"“I want to be able to serve as a role model to motivate other youths to pursue their dreams irrespective of their background. Your colour does not matter, your gender does not matter. You can actually achieve anything you set your mind on.”"

"“Don’t let anybody tell you it’s not possible. I am evidence that nothing is impossible.”"