Results of a Dietitian Survey About Nutrition Games

Abstract

Objective: Registered dietitians are the nutrition experts in America. As such, their opinions about using tech- nology-based nutrition games as teaching tools are important. The purpose of this study was to query registered dietitians about their experience and recommendations for topics, age, and platforms for future nutrition game development. Materials and Methods: The author gave a 1-hour talk to two state dietetic conference groups about nutrition games and their efficacy, concerns, and hopes and opportunities for their future as viable nutrition teaching tools. After the talks attendees completed a five-question survey about nutrition games, including if they played nutrition games, if they thought games could possibly help in their work, and preferences for topics, ages, and platforms for which they wanted to see priority development. Results: Although only 4% of respondents played nutrition games, 79% thought they could be of benefit, and 21% felt that ‘‘maybe’’ they could be beneficial educational tools. Games on all nutrition topics were welcome, with preference for computers and smartphone apps. Conclusion: After a lengthy presentation on the new genre of technology-based nutrition games, registered dietitians reported that they are open to using technology-based nutrition education apps and feel they could have some benefit in educating the public about nutrition, even though dietitians presently have little experience with them. The talk was successful in informing dietitians about this new game genre, and their suggestions for topics, target ages, and tech platforms will be helpful to nutrition game developers and designers.