Serious game assessment in a child obesity tackling program

Abstract

Objective

To assess a serious game as an educational strategy for children in a program to tackle overweight and obesity.

Methods

This is methodological, quantitative and cross-sectional research. Children from a physical conditioning program with interactive games for obese and/or overweight children participated in the study (n=13). Participants’ profile was made through anthropometric data, questionnaires about their eating habits and physical activity. Subsequently, the serious game DigesTower was presented as an additional strategy to the program and the game was assessed by the target audience.

Results

Children aged seven to 11 years with overweight and obesity participated. DigesTower was well received by the participants, who claimed to have immersion, motivation and encouragement to improve their knowledge. The final version of the game was developed and made available online for free and publicly

Conclusion

The study sought to encourage the use of innovative tools to assist as educational interventions in the field of childhood obesity and the serious game was assessed as a potential educational strategy for children. It is hoped that this study will inspire future research in which its objects of study are the development of digital games for children.

Child; Child health; Pediatric obesity; Overweight; Feeding behavior; Video games; Adaptation, psicological