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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #322194
Title: Acceptability and applicability of an American health videogame with story for childhood obesity prevention among Hong Kong Chinese children

Author
item WANG, JINGJING - Hong Kong Baptist University
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item LAU, PATRICK - Hong Kong Baptist University
item PITKETHLY, AMANDA - Hong Kong Baptist University
item BUDAY, RICHARD - Archimage, Inc

Submitted to: The Games for Health Journal: Research, Development, and Clinical Applications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2015
Publication Date: 12/1/2015
Citation: Wang, J., Baranowski, T., Lau, P.W., Pitkethly, A.J., Buday, R. 2015. Acceptability and applicability of an American health videogame with story for childhood obesity prevention among Hong Kong Chinese children. The Games for Health Journal: Research, Development, and Clinical Applications. 4(6):513-519.

Interpretive Summary: Games have been shown to help children change their diet and physical activity behaviors in healthful directions. It is not clear whether games that had healthful effects among children from the culture for which they were designed will have similar effects among children from another culture. One game ("Escape from Diab") that had a healthful effect on diet, and possibly physical activity, among children in Houston, Texas, US, was pilot/feasibility tested among English speaking children in Hong Kong, China. The game was demonstrated to be feasible among English speaking Hong Kong children, with some modifications. A large outcome evaluation trial is warranted among English speaking Hong Kong children.

Technical Abstract: Positive changes in diet have been observed in research carried out in the United States from the use of "Escape from Diab" (Diab), a health videogame designed to lower the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Whether the American story and characters in Diab might be perceived by Hong Kong Chinese children as interesting has not been explored. This study assessed the acceptability and applicability of Diab among Hong Kong Chinese children, whether the Diab story was understood by them, and whether it had potential to influence them both during the game and afterward. Thirty-four students (21 males, 13 females) 9-12 years of age were included. Upon completion of all the Diab episodes, children completed an immersion scale with 18 items, as well as an individual interview with 10 open-ended questions. Children achieved average immersion after playing Diab with the mean score at 39.1 (standard deviation'='9.0), higher than the median (36) of possible scores (range, 18-54). Four themes using framework analysis emerged from the interviews, including intuitive feelings about the interface, playing experience, perception of the effect of Diab on behavior change, and the applicability of Diab to Hong Kong children. The story and game developed for American children were found acceptable and applicable to Hong Kong Chinese children. The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods confirmed the acceptability and applicability of Diab to Hong Kong Chinese children.