Testing Digital Technologies to Help Families Build Healthy Habits
Condition: Childhood Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The current study is a randomized pilot trial to test the feasibility of a psychoeducational
      virtual reality experience to increase motivation for behavior change among children with
      overweight or obesity.
    

Detailed description: 
      The investigators will be conducting a randomized pilot trial to compare a virtual reality
      (VR) experience to a video. Each provides child-friendly nutrition education as well as
      education on consideration of future consequences (episodic future thinking). The video acts
      as the control condition such that we might begin to understand whether the psychological
      presence produced by virtual reality might increase motivation for behavior change.

      The VR experience consists of a game in which participants play a racing game collecting
      healthy or unhealthy foods on the road. Collection of healthy foods increases speed, and
      collection of unhealthy foods decreases speed. Participants then play in the "future" where
      the food choices they made in the past also affect how they can move in the future game. If
      they collected mostly unhealthy foods in the past they move slower in the future, and if they
      collected healthy foods in the past they move faster in the future. However, foods collected
      in the future game can also change their speed, and participants are able to experience both
      future conditions i.e. they play in the future condition depending on if they ate healthily
      or not in the past, and then they play in the opposite future condition. A narrator in the
      game provides information on making healthy choices and about considering future
      consequences. The control video covers similar education on making healthy choices and
      considering future consequences. Additionally, the control video condition also includes a
      short computer-based game about healthy eating.

      The investigators will enroll 60 English-speaking children ages 6-12 with overweight or
      obesity who are not in behavioral treatment to address weight and one of their parents.
      Participants will be recruited from the community using methods such as social media and
      flyers and will complete a phone-screen to determine initial eligibility. Participants
      determined to be eligible over the phone will come for an in-lab visit. In-lab, children will
      provide verbal assent and parents provide written informed consent. Children and parents will
      complete baseline measures, including having height and weight taken, demographic survey
      questions, assessment of participants' eating and physical activity behaviors, and other
      survey assessments selected to evaluate participants' behavioral beliefs, behavioral
      intentions, affect, and motivation for behavior change. Post-video or -VR participants will
      take the same survey assessments aimed at evaluating behavioral beliefs, intentions, affect
      and motivation for behavior change. Additionally, all participants will take usability
      assessments to determine the acceptability of the video or VR and participants randomized to
      the VR will complete measures to evaluate how immersive the VR seemed. At 2-week follow-up
      participants will again report their eating and physical activity behaviors and some
      cognitive measures in order to see whether the VR may have impacted behavior and cognitions.
    

Intervention name(s): Virtual Reality Experience
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The virtual reality experience includes psychoeducation content about healthy eating and consideration of future consequences. It includes a game where participants are in a go kart and pick up healthy or unhealthy foods on the road. Participants play in the "present" and in the "future."
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Participants are randomized to control or intervention. The control condition is watching a video and playing a brief computer game, while the intervention condition consists of the virtual reality experience. Each provides child-friendly nutrition education as well as education on consideration of future consequences.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Virtual Reality; Obesity; Childhood Obesity