Video games cause increased produce consumption among children

Researchers at the USDA-ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital found that children, age 10-12 years, who played the video games “Escape from Diab” and “Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space” increased their fruit and vegetable consumption by 2/3 of a serving per day compared to a control group that didn’t play the games. The video games, which were played in sequence, incorporated aspects of behavior changes such as goal setting, problem solving and decision making.
“We’re in the early stages of knowing how best to use video games to promoter behavior change and more research is necessary to figure out how to better use the video games in this context,” said Tom Baranowski, professor of pediatrics-nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine.
Study results have been published the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Wonder if there would be an interest in developing a flower consumption version of the games.

Pictured: Playing “Escape from Diab” and “Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space” video games resulted in an increase in children's fruit and vegetable intake. Additional research is needed on the optimal design of video game components to maximize change.