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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #358832
Title: Nutrition education and dietary behavior change games: A scoping review

Author
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item RYAN, COURTNEY - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item HOYOS-CESPEDES, ANDRES - Northeastern University
item LU, AMY - Northeastern University

Submitted to: The Games for Health Journal: Research, Development, and Clinical Applications
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2018
Publication Date: 10/22/2018
Citation: Baranowski, T., Ryan, C., Hoyos-Cespedes, A., Lu, A.S. 2018. Nutrition education and dietary behavior change games: A scoping review. The Games for Health Journal: Research, Development, and Clinical Applications. https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2018.0070.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2018.0070

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Games provide an attractive venue for engaging participants and increasing nutrition-related knowledge and dietary behavior change, but no review has appeared devoted to this literature. A scoping review of nutrition education and dietary behavior change videogames or interactive games was conducted. A systematic search was made of PubMed, Agricola, and Google Scholar. Information was abstracted from 22 publications. To be included, the publication had to include a videogame or interactive experience involving games (a videogame alone, minigames inserted into a larger multimedia experience, or game as part of a human-delivered intervention); game’s design objective was to influence dietary behavior, a psychosocial determinant of a dietary behavior, or nutrition knowledge (hereinafter referred to as diet-related); must have been reported in English and must have appeared in a professional publication, including some report of outcomes or results (thereby passing some peer review). This review was restricted to the diet-related information in the selected games. Diversity in targeted dietary knowledge and intake behaviors, targeted populations/audiences, game mechanics, behavioral theories, research designs, and findings was revealed. The diversity and quality of the research in general was poor, precluding a meta-analysis or systematic review. All but one of the studies reported some positive outcome from playing the game(s). One reported that a web-based education program resulted in more change than the game-based intervention. Studies of games may have been missed; a number of dietary/nutrition games are known for which no evaluation is known; and the data presented on the games and research were limited and inconsistent. A firmer research base is needed to establish the efficacy and effectiveness of nutrition education and dietary behavior change games.