The Serious Game NutriGame-Your Food Guide Promotes Communication of the NOVA Food Classification and Healthy Eating Habits Among Adolescents.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a serious game, NutriGame-Your Food Guide, in communicating the NOVA food classification and healthy eating habits to adolescents. The study involved 65 adolescents of both sexes aged between 10 and 18 years. The intervention group (n = 38) played the NutriGame for 14 days. They completed a food-related questionnaire that addressed issues of self-perception, self-efficacy, knowledge, and food attitude at three time points: Before (Pre), 14 (Post), and 90 days after NutriGame use (Post-90). The control group received no intervention. Following the use of NutriGame, adolescents reported an increased understanding of healthy eating (Pre 7.05 ± 1.83 points; Post 7.94 ± 1.33 points, P = 0.031) and considered their diet healthier (Pre 6.50 ± 1.64 points; Post 7.16 ± 1.11 points, P = 0.015). As did self-efficacy, the healthy eating knowledge score increased after playing NutriGame (27.82 ± 1.65 to 29.05 ± 1.45, P = 0.0001). There was also an improvement in food attitude (Pre: 20.58 ± 3.19 points; Post: 22.53 ± 3.12 points, P = 0.0009). These modifications resulted in the maintenance of the results 90 days post-intervention. These results indicate that NutriGame-Your Food Guide effectively communicated the NOVA food classification and healthy eating habits to adolescents (Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials U1111-1258-0889).