Examining enjoyment in gamifying physical exercise and a healthy diet

Abstract

This paper examines the role of gamification for enjoyment in physical exercise and a healthy diet. The lack of motivation for these health-related behaviors is associated with the rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Gamification involves leveraging on enjoyment derived from game mechanics that could galvanize individuals to exercise and consume healthier meals. Literature has also noted that enjoyment is associated with competing activities, personal investments, valuable opportunities, social constraints, and social support. This work introduces Zest!, a gamified application designed to enhance enjoyment to exercise and diet. Zest! aims to enhance enjoyment by entwining exercising and dieting activities with game mechanics. An evaluation was conducted to understand users’ perception of enjoyment associated with exercising and dieting as a result of using Zest!. It validates the game mechanics in enhancing the enjoyment to the activities. A total of 70 participants took part in the study and used it for two days. During the study, the participants were given tasks to utilize the available features. A questionnaire was administered at the end of the study to elicit their perceptions. Regression analyses were performed on the data collected. The results indicate that gamified applications has to potential to enhance enjoyment for physical exercise and a healthy diet. The implications from this study are presented.