 Games For Healthy Eating- Online Program Teaches Kids Good Eating Habits
Games For Healthy Eating- Online Program Teaches Kids Good Eating Habits
A recent study found that children who played an online game promoting healthy foods were more likely to choose healthy snacks for themselves than children who played the same game promoting unhealthy foods.
Thirty low-income, African American children age 9-10 played one of two versions of a Pac-Man type game that either rewarded them for choosing healthy foods, such as fruit, or rewarded them for choosing junk food, such as candy bars and bags of chips.
The children were then asked to pick a snack for themselves to eat after playing the game. Those who played the healthy version of the online game were significantly more likely than those who played the unhealthy version to choose an orange or a banana over junk food.The children reported to like both versions of the game.
Tiffany A. Pempek, Ph.D., and Sandra L. Calvert, Ph.D., of Georgetown University, wrote that “With only 10 minutes of exposure, our results revealed that children selected and ate whatever snacks were being marketed by the advergame, healthy or not.” Advergaming, the practice of using a videogame to promote a product, has become widespread on the internet.
The authors also noted how important it is to promote a healthy lifestyle from an early age because eating patterns and habits are established during childhood.
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