Abstract
Prevention of childhood obesity is a global public health priority. Obesity is associated with dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and long-term vascular complications. Therefore, obesity prevalence remains high making it imperative to continue surveillance and alternatives or plans to pre-vent it. We developed an innovative population strategy to support initiatives that work towards reducing the obesity epidemic in Brazil. The educational game developed - Space Adventures - is aimed to promote the consumption of healthier food by children. The theme resembles a galaxy and different idealized planets corresponding to the daily meals. To evaluate the educational game developed, test were conducted with children from the ages of 5 to 10; the food choices of each volunteer were analyzed during the execution of the game. Two institutions tested the educational game developed and it was observed that children of a primary school (Group 1) showed significantly better learning-acquisition scores than children of a children’s hospital (Group 2). Group 1 performed better in the educational game than Group 2, based in healthy eating choices. The results of this study provide evidence to support the importance of innovative strategies in health.
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Parra Navarro, L.M., Paez Ardila, D.R., Pires, M.M.S., Marques, J.L.B. (2017). Space Adventures: a serious game for childhood obesity prevention. In: Torres, I., Bustamante, J., Sierra, D. (eds) VII Latin American Congress on Biomedical Engineering CLAIB 2016, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia, October 26th -28th, 2016. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 60. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4086-3_38
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4086-3_38
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