American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Elsevier: San Diego, CA, December 7, 2010 – Obesity in youngsters has risen dramatically in recent decades. Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and increased water intake can lower the risk of obesity, as can increased physical activity, but it is not always easy to convince children to eat better and exercise more. In a new study published in the January 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that video games designed to encourage these behaviors were effective.

About the games

“Escape from Diab” (Diab) and “Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space” (Nanoswarm) are epic video games specifically designed to lower risks of type 2 diabetes and obesity by changing youth diet and physical activity behaviors. Designed by Archimage, Inc., and funded by a Small Business Initiative Research Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, Diab and Nanoswarm are based on social cognitive, self-determination, and persuasion theories.

“Diab and Nanoswarm were designed as epic video game adventures, comparable to commercial quality video games. These games incorporated a broad diversity of behavior change procedures woven in and around engrossing stories. The games motivated players to substantially improve diet behaviors,” according to lead investigator Tom Baranowski, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service supported Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine. “Serious video games hold promise, but their effectiveness and mechanisms of change among youth need to be more thoroughly investigated.”

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The study and results

Children playing these video games increased FV consumption by about 2/3 serving per day, but did not increase water consumption or moderate to vigorous physical activity, or improve body composition. Despite the increase, FV and water consumption and physical activity remained below the minimum recommendations.

In this randomized clinical trial, 153 children ages 10 to 12 years, were divided into a treatment group (103 children) and a control group (50). Complete data were obtained on 133 subjects. The treatment group first played Diab and then Nanoswarm. The control group played diet and physical-activity knowledge-based games on popular websites. Each group was assessed at the start of the trial, immediately after Diab, immediately after Nanoswarm, and again two months later. Height, weight, waist size, and triceps skin-fold thickness were measured. Physical activity was monitored for at least 4 days by accelerometer-based data from each child at each assessment. Food consumption was measured using 24 hour dietary recalls conducted by registered dietitians.

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The article is “Video Game Play, Child Diet, and Physical Activity Behavior Change – A Randomized Clinical Trial” by Tom Baranowski, PhD, Janice Baranowski, MPH, RD, Debbe Thompson, PhD, Richard Buday, FAIA, Russ Jago, PhD, Melissa Juliano Griffith, MPH, Noemi Islam, MPH, Nga Nguyen, MS, and Kathleen B. Watson, PhD. It appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 1 (January 2011) published by Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.09.029

When I first started healthGAMERS we were in the process of creating a new online health game based on the food pyramid.  At that time, I was researching what was out there.  My conclusion: a call for better Food Pyramid games.  Someone at the USDA must have been reading because the latest news buzzing in the public health sector is the announcement of the USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS) Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge.

According to their latest news release, the USDA is challenging the public to create new web-based learning applications, such as health games, to reach more tweens (kids ages 9-12).  The challenge is designed to highlight the Obama Administration’s commitment to combating childhood obesity and improving the national health of America’s youth.  They are providing open source federal datasets on Data.gov and MyPyramid.gov for those that wish to enter.  Access to this data is great in itself!

Contest details.

• Who can apply? Entrepreneurs, software developers, and students who are U.S. citizens and not current USDA or White House employees.
• Who is the target audience? Kids 9-12 years old, aka “tweens”
• What kind of technology is required? Platform information will be posted soon, but entries are to be fully developed web-based games.  All data in the games must from be the USDA Nutrition Dataset and/or the Source Code.
• When is the deadline? Submissions will be accepted in spring 2010.  Further details are to follow.
• What are the prizes? Four prizes will be awarded including Gold ($3,000), Silver ($2,000), Bronze ($1,000) and Popular Choice $2,ooo).
• How are winners decided? All entries will be judged by a panel of public and private sector nutrition and gaming experts based on the following criteria: potential impact on target audience (40%), quality/accuracy/content of messages (20%), creativity/originality (20%) and potential for further development/use (20%).

For further contest information see the USDA Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge page or sign up for email updates.