They create an app to prevent and reduce childhood obesity

Childhood obesity is a serious global health problem that currently affects 124 million boys and girls between 5 and 19 years old around the world.

To contribute to the prevention of childhood obesity, the Elda Health Department, through the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of the Valencian Community (Fisabio), and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), in Spain, have launched a project that seeks to provide healthy guidelines and habits that contribute to reducing and preventing obesity among children and youth through a pilot app.

In this project, which is part of the “preparatory actions” modality of UniSalut (within the collaboration subprogram between the UPV and Fisabio ‘Polisabio’), Francisca Ramón, professor of civil law and researcher at the UPV, and María Dolores have participated. Gil, primary care nurse at the Elda Health Department and Fisabio researcher.

“Obesity affects the immediate health of boys and girls, given that it is a determining risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular diseases, in addition to entailing psychosocial problems such as poorer school performance or a low self-esteem,” explains María Dolores Gil.

Given this situation, the research staff has designed the pilot mobile application called “Feeding Health” which, through gamification techniques (learning through games), facilitates the adoption of healthy guidelines and habits that contribute to reducing obesity. The prototype of this app has been tested at the CEIP Príncipe Don Juan Manuel de Villena, with the collaboration of the center’s teachers. With the use of this application, the students have been able to test their knowledge and, through various scenarios, carefully select the healthiest foods and the physical activity necessary to keep their ‘avatars’, within the app, as healthy as possible. healthy as possible.

During this phase of the process with the school, which took place between the months of March and April, 60 users accessed the application and the maximum score obtained by the participants was 96 out of 100. The students used the app between one and ten times.

Currently, the Fisabio research staff who are part of this project (María Dolores Gil, María Gracia Parro and Oscar Elias) are in the analysis phase of the results of the assessment surveys. “In the immediate future, we plan to seek funding to improve our application and make it available to the teaching community as a useful tool to promote healthy habits and contribute to preventing obesity at school ages,” concludes María Dolores Gil.

Members of the research and development team. (Photo: Polytechnic University of Valencia)

The work so far has focused on the functional requirements of the app design. “After carrying out a study of the profiles and characteristics of the population in childhood, we proposed ‘avatars’ and situations adapted to the population under study and proposed scenarios of participation in gamification related to daily life activities in a range of determined profile,” explains Francisca Ramón, researcher at the UPV.

In the game, the interactive roadmap allows the user to gain knowledge and self-evaluate on issues of nutrition and physical activity. “This project will encourage healthy habits in children and adolescents through gamification through the app, and will also help, by promoting healthy habits, to prevent some diseases such as diabetes,” highlights Francisca Ramón. Along with her, researchers Vicente Cabedo and Vicent Giménez have also participated in the UPV team. (Source: Polytechnic University of Valencia)