Short-Term Changes in Nutrition Literacy, Dietary Engagement, and Reported Food Habits Among Adolescents After One Session with a Gamified Digital Nutrition-Education Platform: A Single-Arm Pre–Post Study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Background/Objectives: No study has evaluated a gamified nutrition-education platform for adolescents in Eastern Europe. This pilot study described short-term changes in nutrition literacy, dietary engagement and reported food habits after one session with AHOPE, an automated gamified platform, among Romanian adolescents. Methods: In a single-arm pre–post study, 332 adolescents aged 10–19 years began one session and 155 (46.7%) completed it, answering three scales, including an adapted forced-choice Adolescent Food Habits Checklist, immediately before and after. Paired tests used Benjamini–Hochberg correction; moderation and predictor analyses were exploratory. Results: All six outcome scores were higher after the session (all p_BH < 0.001; dz 0.42–0.73, largest for nutrition literacy). Of 23 food-habit items, 17 shifted toward the healthier response, with the largest shifts for the foods taught in the modules. Interaction tests gave no evidence that change differed by sex, age band or family affluence (all p_BH ≥ 0.90), although power was limited (low-affluence group, n = 18). Conclusions: Among completers, who were more affluent than non-completers, self-reported nutrition literacy, dietary engagement and food-habit responses were higher immediately after one session. These changes may reflect short-term intentions; the design cannot establish causation, persistence or behavioural change, which require a controlled trial with delayed follow-up.
Source: Nutrients
DOI: 10.3390/nu18203447
Language: English
Subfield: Nutrition and Dietetics
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,499
OpenAlex ID: W7223065660