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Veggies4myHeart digital game: an educational tool to promote vegetable consumption in preschool children - a multicentre experimental study

2025-09-26Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Médicas::Ciências da Saúde
datacite.subject.sdg03:Saúde de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg17:Parcerias para a Implementação dos Objetivos
dc.contributor.authorBraga-Pontes, Cátia
dc.contributor.authorFerreira, Patrícia V.
dc.contributor.authorBarros, Neuza
dc.contributor.authorVieito, Leonel
dc.contributor.authorLages, Marlene
dc.contributor.authorSimões-Dias, Sara
dc.contributor.authorTorre, Sophie Bucher Della
dc.contributor.authorGuarino, Maria P.
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-03T15:42:05Z
dc.date.available2025-11-03T15:42:05Z
dc.date.issued2025-09-26
dc.descriptionWe thank the kindergarten teachers and their students who participated to the study, as well as their school directors who supported this involvement. In Geneva, a special thanks to Sara Hernandez Seco and Flavia Negro for their participation in intervention implementation and data collection. In Portugal, to all the students from graduation of Dietetics and Nutrition of Polytechnic of Leiria who participated voluntarily in data collection and to city council of Leiria that had permitted the execution of the project Veggies4myHeart in their preschools.
dc.descriptionArticle number - 326
dc.description.abstractBackground Vegetable consumption as part of a balanced and diversified dietary pattern is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality. Even though the scientific evidence for these benefits is strong, the consumption of vegetables remains far below recommendations, especially in early childhood. Despite existing literature, the evidence on how to increase vegetable consumption in preschool children remains limited and the development and validation of new strategies should be pursued in varied contexts. The study presented herein aimed to compare the impact of educational sessions based on the serious game Veggies4myHeart and repeated exposure to vegetables on preschool children’s willingness to taste them and also their nutrition knowledge, measured at baseline and post-intervention, in Portuguese and Swiss preschool children. Methods The intervention was carried out in preschools with 39 Portuguese and 45 Swiss children, from 3 to 6 years old, in their preschools, between May 2019 and February 2021. Children participated in weekly 20-minute educational sessions for 5 weeks, delivered by trained nutritionists and incorporating the Veggies4myHeart digital game. Willingness to taste was assessed by offering the five raw vegetables in standard portions and recording whether each child tasted them at baseline, throughout the intervention, and post-intervention. Nutrition knowledge was assessed using three questionnaires applied before and after the intervention. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS software and statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Results Comparing the results between the two countries post-intervention, statistically significant differences were found in the willingness to taste lettuce, carrot, and red cabbage, with Portuguese children showing more willingness to taste these vegetables than Swiss children (p < 0,05). Improvements in nutrition knowledge, from baseline to post-intervention, were observed in both countries (p < 0,001), but without statistically significant differences between countries (p = 0.114). Conclusions Despite differences in context and eating habits of Portuguese and Swiss children, the intervention with the Veggies4myHeart digital game increased preschoolers’ willingness to taste vegetables, supporting the value of repeated exposure combined with digital tools. Improvement in nutrition knowledge further reinforces the potential of serious games as comprehensive educational strategies for promoting healthy habits in young children.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by Seed Money from CCISP-HES-SO and Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT/UID/05704/2023).
dc.identifier.citationBraga-Pontes, C., Ferreira, P.V., Barros, N. et al. Veggies4myHeart digital game: an educational tool to promote vegetable consumption in preschool children - a multicentre experimental study. J Health Popul Nutr 44, 326 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-01074-z
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s41043-025-01074-z
dc.identifier.issn2072-1315
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/14475
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherBioMed Central
dc.relation.hasversionhttps://jhpn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41043-025-01074-z
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Health, Population and Nutrition
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subjectFood preferences
dc.subjectObesity prevention
dc.subjectSerious games
dc.subjectVegetables
dc.titleVeggies4myHeart digital game: an educational tool to promote vegetable consumption in preschool children - a multicentre experimental studyeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue1
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Health, Population and Nutrition
oaire.citation.volume44
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNamePereira Braga Pontes
person.familyNameVieira Ferreira
person.familyNameBarros
person.familyNameVieito
person.familyNameLages
person.familyNameDias
person.familyNameGuarino
person.givenNameCátia Sofia
person.givenNamePatrícia
person.givenNameNeuza
person.givenNameLeonel
person.givenNameMarlene
person.givenNameSara
person.givenNameMaria Pedro
person.identifier.ciencia-id4114-E973-CD25
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person.identifier.ciencia-idAA1F-9375-B5E6
person.identifier.ciencia-idF21A-BD01-2D52
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person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-7389-6368
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person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-6079-1105
person.identifier.ridI-9965-2018
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person.identifier.scopus-author-id33367487300
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