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. 2021 May 6:12:657289.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.657289. eCollection 2021.

Improving Serious Games to Tackle Childhood Obesity

Maroua Belghali  1 , Yauhen Statsenko  2 , Abdulsalam Al-Za'abi  1
Affiliations

Improving Serious Games to Tackle Childhood Obesity

Maroua Belghali et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Childhood obesity has become a global public health issue. Today, there are opportunities to promote health through technological devices such as serious games. Despite the major advancement of this field of research, the use of serious games as a validated intervention in clinical practice requires further clarifications on some methodological aspects. In this perspective article, we report the pros and cons of existing serious games. Besides, we attempt to propose a new methodology of design of a serious game that could help to cope with childhood obesity. The proposed idea consists of a serious game in virtual reality based on enjoyment, movement, education, and executive functioning (EF) training. Longitudinal studies and solid research protocol would certainly ensure consistency and aid interpretation.

Keywords: childhood obesity; executive functions; nutrition education; physical exercise; serious games.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The four-dimensional framework of a serious game in virtual reality: enjoyment, movement, nutrition education, and executive functioning (EF) training.
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