1 Department of Developmental Psychopathology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University , Nijmegen, The Netherlands .
2 Department of Health Promotion, NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre , Maastricht, The Netherlands .
Games Health J. 2018 Jun;7(3):164-174. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2017.0055. Epub 2018 Apr 10.
Serious games are a promising venue to increase children's nutritional knowledge in an entertaining format. The aim of this study was to test the short-term effectiveness of the Alien Health Game, a videogame designed to teach elementary school children about nutrition and healthy food choices.
To examine the effects of the Alien Health Game, an experimental design with a single between-subjects factor (experimental condition vs. active control condition) was used. A total of 108 Dutch children (10-13 years; 58 boys) were randomly assigned to either play Alien Health using the Kinect sensor for two consecutive days, for 1 hour of gameplay (experimental condition; n = 50), or a web-based nutrition game for the same period (active control condition; n = 58). Participants' nutritional knowledge was assessed at pretest, immediate, and at 2-week follow-up. Food intake was assessed at immediate and 2-week follow-up.
Participants who played Alien Health had better knowledge of the five most important macronutrients of foods at immediate posttest, but not at follow-up. Participants were better able to distinguish the healthier food item out of two options over time, but this effect did not differ for those in the experimental versus the active control condition. No differences in food intake, neither in the consumption of nutrient-dense or energy-dense foods, were found between children playing both games.
A brief game-based intervention like the Alien Health Game has the potential to improve children's nutritional knowledge in the short term, but may not be strong enough to increase nutritional knowledge and actual eating behavior in the long term. Further investigation is warranted before this game is applied in future nutrition education programs.
严肃游戏是一种很有前途的方式，可以用娱乐的形式来增加儿童的营养知识。本研究的目的是测试外星人健康游戏的短期效果，这是一款旨在向小学生传授营养和健康食品选择知识的视频游戏。
为了检验外星人健康游戏的效果，采用了单因素组间实验设计（实验组与主动对照组）。共有 108 名荷兰儿童（10-13 岁；58 名男孩）被随机分配到两种条件下：连续两天使用 Kinect 传感器玩外星人健康游戏，每次 1 小时（实验组；n=50），或在同一时期玩基于网络的营养游戏（主动对照组；n=58）。参与者的营养知识在预测试、即时测试和 2 周随访时进行评估。食物摄入量在即时测试和 2 周随访时进行评估。
玩外星人健康游戏的参与者在即时后测时对五种最重要的食物宏量营养素的知识更好，但在随访时则不然。随着时间的推移，参与者能够更好地区分两种选择中更健康的食物，但实验组和主动对照组之间的这种效果没有差异。在玩这两种游戏的儿童中，食物摄入量均无差异，包括营养密集型或能量密集型食物的摄入量。
像外星人健康游戏这样简短的基于游戏的干预措施有可能在短期内提高儿童的营养知识，但可能不足以在长期内增加营养知识和实际的饮食行为。在未来的营养教育计划中应用这款游戏之前，还需要进一步的研究。
