Video Games for Dietary Behavior Change and Improved Glycemic Control in Diabetes

This project investigates health impacts of educational desktop and mobile mini-games on adults with diabetes. The games are designed to help players attain better blood sugar control by improving their ability to estimate nutritional metrics such as carbohydrates, calories, and energy density. In addition to assessing effects of the games on dietary knowledge and food choices, the study explores effects of two game design strategies: tailoring and tethering. Tailoring involves customizing a game to meet an individual player's personal characteristics, preferences and goals.  Tethering involves rapid task-switching between a learning task and a non-educational game.