Topic: Obesity, Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity
Target Population: Middle Childhood
Sector: Community-Based, School-Based
This program is for students who are in elementary school.
The Blast Off Game, a community- or school-based computer game, is designed to increase participants' physical activity levels and enhance their nutritional intake. This program utilizes the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Guidance System, MyPlate, and guides children through a food and activity selection process.
No peer-reviewed publications evaluating the effectiveness of this program were located.
The Blast Off Game is designed to improve participants' general well-being by promoting a healthy diet and physical activity. The player's objective is to create a well-balanced daily menu and choose suitable activities so his or her spaceship will blast off.
This game can be played in a variety of settings, such as at home, school, or various community locations. Users go online and create a profile that includes their age and sex. The game uses this profile information to specify the following individualized information:
No information about previous use was available. The original version of this game was created to correspond with the previous USDA Food Guidance System, MyPyramid; however, the game has been updated and reflects the MyPlate Food Guidance System, which was adopted by the USDA in 2011.
No training is required to implement this program.
Considerations for implementing this program include ensuring participants have access to a computer and the internet, understanding that parents or teachers may need to explain core concepts to children before they play the game, and acquiring buy-in from parents or teachers as they will need to monitor the children/students as they play the game and/or play the game with their children/students.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing the Blast Off Game, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
The time required by users to play one game is about 15 minutes.
No information about implementation costs was located. Please use details in the Contact section to learn more.
To move the Blast Off Game to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact the Extension Foundation by visiting https://extension.org/contact/
