JMIR Serious Games · 5 authors, 3 centres
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This pilot study translated the digital game "Veggies4myHeart" into French and tested it in two elementary classrooms with 45 children aged 5-6 years over five weekly sessions combining the game with vegetable discussions and tasting. Red cabbage preference scores increased significantly from pretest to posttest, but willingness to taste showed no significant changes.
This pilot study translated the Portuguese digital game 'Veggies4myHeart' into French and tested its usability and influence on vegetable preferences and willingness to taste in 45 children aged 5-6 years across two classrooms. Over five consecutive weekly sessions, children played the game in pairs for 10-15 minutes, discussed a featured vegetable, and tasted five vegetables. Pretest-posttest comparisons showed a significant increase in declared food preference for red cabbage and a composite score, but preferences for lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and tomato did not change significantly. No significant differences were observed in willingness to taste any of the five vegetables after the intervention. Teachers confirmed the game's feasibility and acceptability for classroom use. Key limitations include the small sample size, absence of a control group, and inability to isolate the effect of the digital game from concurrent discussions and tastings. The study supports the game's applicability and acceptability, warranting larger studies with control groups.
