Wang Ruobing, Yao Jie, Leong Claudia, Moltchanova Elena, Hoermann Simon
School of Product Design, University of Canterbury, 20 Kirkwood Ave., Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand.
School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, Pingshan First Road, Shenzhen 518067, China.
Nutrients. 2025 Mar 30;17(7):1219. doi: 10.3390/nu17071219.
: Childhood obesity is a growing public-health concern in China and globally, a trend influenced by multiple factors, including poor eating behaviors and insufficient physical activity. While interactive health games have shown promise in improving children's nutrition education and healthy eating behaviors, few have been tailored for the Chinese context. This study aimed to develop and evaluate Happy Farm, Happy Meal (HFHM), an alternate reality game (ARG) integrated into Chinese elementary students' daily routines to enhance their nutrition knowledge and improve their eating behaviors. : This pilot study employed a quasi-experimental design with two third-grade classes, which were randomly assigned to the HFHM intervention group ( = 40) or a no-game control group ( = 39). The game design was informed by a pre-intervention survey and interviews with caregivers and teachers, which identified key dietary challenges such as picky eating, slow eating, and food waste. Over a two-week period, the HFHM group engaged in food- and nutrition-focused tasks that were incorporated into their lunchtime routines. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected on nutrition knowledge, food waste, picky eating, and meal duration, with daily progress tracking in the HFHM group. : Compared to the control group, the HFHM group showed a significant increase in nutrition knowledge ( < 0.05), reduced food waste ( < 0.01), decreased picky eating ( < 0.01), and improved meal duration ( < 0.05). However, the small sample size and short intervention period limit generalizability. : These findings suggest HFHM is a promising tool for improving nutrition education and dietary behaviors in Chinese children. Future research should validate these findings in a larger sample and assess long-term impacts.
儿童肥胖在中国乃至全球都是一个日益严重的公共卫生问题，这一趋势受到多种因素影响，包括不良饮食行为和体育活动不足。虽然互动健康游戏在改善儿童营养教育和健康饮食行为方面显示出了前景，但很少有专门针对中国国情设计的。本研究旨在开发并评估“开心农场，快乐膳食”（HFHM），这是一款融入中国小学生日常生活的增强现实游戏（ARG），以增强他们的营养知识并改善饮食行为。
这项试点研究采用了准实验设计，选取了两个三年级班级，随机分为HFHM干预组（n = 40）和无游戏对照组（n = 39）。游戏设计基于干预前的调查以及对家长和教师的访谈，这些调查和访谈确定了挑食、进食慢和食物浪费等关键饮食挑战。在为期两周的时间里，HFHM组参与了以食物和营养为重点的任务，这些任务融入了他们的午餐时间安排。在干预前后收集了关于营养知识、食物浪费、挑食和用餐时长的数据，HFHM组还进行了每日进展跟踪。
与对照组相比，HFHM组在营养知识方面有显著增加（p < 0.05），食物浪费减少（p < 0.01），挑食情况改善（p < 0.01），用餐时长也有所改善（p < 0.05）。然而，样本量小和干预期短限制了研究结果的普遍性。
这些发现表明，HFHM是改善中国儿童营养教育和饮食行为的一个有前景的工具。未来的研究应在更大样本中验证这些发现，并评估长期影响。
