Examining the Impact of a Mobile Nutrition Education App for Child Nutrition Education in Canada

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Status: Completed

Conditions: Nutrition, Healthy

Treatments: Other: Serious game nutrition education intervention; Other: Conventional nutrition education intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05979259

17109

Details and patient eligibility

About

This trial will test the hypothesis that a digital curriculum-based nutrition education intervention using the Foodbot Factory serious game (i.e., a game designed for learning) leads to greater student engagement and learning about nutrition, compared to conventional nutrition education (e.g., worksheets), among students in Grades 4 and 5 in Ontario, Canada. This hypothesis is based on existing research suggesting that digital serious games, when well-integrated into the classroom setting, promote greater student engagement, learning and knowledge retention.

Full description

This two-arm parallel cluster randomized controlled efficacy trial will determine if a digital curriculum-based nutrition education intervention (intervention group) leads to greater increases in overall nutrition knowledge compared to conventional nutrition education (control group) in Grade 4 and 4/5 classrooms after 1 week, and that it facilitates greater retention at 4 weeks and 3 months following the intervention period. Secondary outcomes include sub-scores of nutrition knowledge (i.e., knowledge of specific food groupings), nutrition attitudes, general child nutrition behaviours and dietary intakes. Due to the enhanced engagement serious games can provide, it is hypothesized that participants in the intervention group will show greater changes in and retention of their nutrition knowledge and nutrition behaviours. Thirty-two Grade 4 and 4/5 classrooms in Ontario, Canada will be randomized to the intervention or control group. Participants in both groups will receive nutrition education lessons for 35-40 minutes a day for five consecutive days. Participants in the intervention group will use the Foodbot Factory serious game while participants in the control group will use conventional learning materials (e.g., worksheets, teacher-led instruction). Both interventions will have these learning materials integrated into standardized nutrition education lesson plans. Overall and sub-scores of nutrition knowledge, and nutrition attitudes will be assessed using the Nutrition Attitudes and Knowledge questionnaire. General child nutrition behaviours (e.g., frequency of eating meals outside the home) will be assessed using a modified version of the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Screening Tool and dietary intake will be assessed using the Block Food Screener for Ages 2-17. At baseline, parents and classroom teachers will respectively complete demographic questionnaires to measure co-variates that may impact outcomes of interest (e.g., household food security, presence of school food programs).

Enrollment: 616 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Grade 4 or 4/5 classroom
• Classroom is located in a participating school board in Ontario

Exclusion criteria

• Classroom has already covered the "Healthy Eating" component of the Ontario Physical Health Education curriculum

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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616 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental (Foodbot Factory) Group

Experimental group

Treatment:

Other: Serious game nutrition education intervention

Control Group

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Other: Conventional nutrition education intervention