Internet Promotion of Diet and Physical Activity
Obesity and chronic disease risk factors are rising among youth. Internet
use and technology are fast becoming a way of life in the United
States, particularly for youth. Dr. Debbe Thompson, Assistant
Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center
used these facts to develop a theory-based internet program to
promote healthy eating and physical activity to 8-year-old African
American girls. Dr. Thompson explains, “Although the precise causes
of the rise in obesity among youth have not been pin-pointed,
less healthy dietary choices and limited physical activity are
contributing factors. Interventions encouraging healthy diet and
physical activity among youth need to emphasize positive behaviors
and ‘fun’.”
Dr. Thompson and colleagues designed an 8-week Internet program
to do just that. The program features on-line comics, with characters
modeling the eight skills needed to make healthy choices. (See
Table.) Each comic was approximately 12 frames long and ended
with a “cliff hanger” to encourage the girls to log on next week
for the solution. The character having a problem meeting her goal
identifies a list of possible ways to solve the problem and asks
the viewer to help choose a solution. The character evaluates
the viewer’s choice against her decision criteria to help her
decide if it was a “good” choice for her. Girls were also encouraged
to set goals, self-monitor, and report goal achievement.
Daily goals included:
- Eating five servings of fruit and vegetables
- Drinking five glasses of water
- Taking 12,000 steps
Goal-setting pages are designed to look like diary pages to add to the “fun”.
Girls could reach their goals in different ways. A “Lunch Leader” ate more fruit and vegetables at lunch. A “Dynamite Diner” ate more fruit and vegetables at dinner.
The girls were encouraged to try different ways to see which plan worked best for them.
Dr. Thompson explained that this approach is one of the earliest attempts to build computerized behavior change programs promoting healthy diet and physical activity behaviors to youth.
Computer programs are exciting because they can test the effectiveness of alternative forms of the same procedure (e.g., setting easy versus chal-lenging goals). A paper describing their program will
appear in an upcoming issue of Computers and Education and is currently available on-line.
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