BOOSTH: Serious Gaming in Combination With Physical Activity Promotion

Physical inactivity is considered to be one of the ten principal risk factors for death worldwide. Children need to perform one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity whereof at least twice a week these activities are of vigorous intensity. In 2010, the percentage of 4-11 year-old normoactive Dutch children was approximately 20%. In addition, there is a dose-response relationship between BMI by sex and physical activity levels. Previous interventions that aimed to increase childhood physical activity produced small to negligible effects. One possible explanation is that individuals were not intrinsically motivated towards PA during the intervention period. Children spend a substantial amount of their time behind a game consule. There are a number of applications that motivate increase in PA in a fun way through engaging individuals in games that mix real and computing worlds. These games became known as serious games. In this study we want to investigate if the incorporation of a serious game BOOSTH in combination with an activity tracker to stimulate physical activity behaviour in overweight/ obese children.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Childhood Obesity; Overweight and Obesity; Serious Game
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Boosth

Detailed Description

The investigational treatment consists of regular COACH care and the BOOSTH physical activity intervention. Children in the intervention group will start with the physical activity intervention. The child will receive the BOOSTH activity tracker. The child (under supervision of their parents) needs to download the BOOSTH sync app and the BOOSTH game app. Therefore it is important that the child or their parents have a device with Bluetooth. The investigators create a login account for the child. After installing the apps, the activity tracker measures step counts which are translated into activity points. These activity points will be used to unlock levels in the BOOSTH game app. The child synchronizes their activity points, with Bluetooth connection, in the BOOSTH sync app and immediately the child could open the BOOSTH game app to play a level in the game. The child needs seven green lights (corresponding to 30 minutes of performed physical activity) to unlock a level in the game. The first four levels are for free, to gain interests of the child, but thereafter the child needs to be physically active to unlock the rest of the levels in the game. The intervention consists of a combination of supporting strategies: • BOOSTH game: it is a reward based game since the child needs to perform physical activity to unlock a level in the game. The BOOSTH game is a jump and run game. • Lights on the activity tracker: the child will be stimulated to promote physical activity by using green lights on the activity tracker. The more performed physical activity, the more green lights on the activity tracker (maximum of seven green lights). When the maximum is reached the child could use the activity points to unlock a level in the game. • Group system: a special COACH group (in the BOOSTH game app) will be created. Children can compare their scores with each other and challenge each other to gain more activity points. • Every week the child receives a reminder (by email or phone) to promote physical activity. Every week the researcher will download the BOOSTH data. Individual adjustments and encouragement could be made based on results of the data. • The medical doctor (MD) will stimulate physical activity behavior during regular COACH visits and promote the use of BOOSTH The intervention duration is 6 months. Measurements will be performed at baseline, 3-, 6- and twelve months after the start.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 52
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Netherlands
  • Limburg
    • Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands, 6229 HX
      • Maastricht University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 12 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Boys and girls, aged between 8 and 12 years (at time of inclusion)
• Overweight or obesity according to IOTF criteria Are enrolled in the COACH program
• Have access to a technological device (i.e. tablet, iPad, phone) with bluetooth option (to synchronize activity points and playing the BOOSTH game)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who are suffering from any musculoskeletal condition that would prevent the subject from performing PA.
• Children who already participate in another PA intervention (children who are attending COACH Sports lessons will be excluded)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Control group; Standard care
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Intervention group; Children in the intervention group will receive Boosth: Boosth activity tracker, Boosth syncc app and Boosth game app	Device: Boosth; Boosth activity tracker which measures steps

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
change in moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day)	moderate to vigorous physical activity (min/day) as measured with the Actigraph accelerometer	1 week weartime at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in step count	Daily step count via Boosth activity tracker	up to 6 months
Change in physical activity behaviour	Subjective physical activity behaviour via Baecke questionnaire. BAECKE (for children) will be used to assess the amount of habitual PA ranging from 1 (lowest activity) to 5 (highest activity). Physical activity at school, during leisure time and organized sports will be asked.	up to 12 months
Anthropometry	Weight (kg) and height (cm) will be combined to report BMI in kg/m^2	up to 12 months
Body composition	Fat Mass and Fat Free Mass via Bodpod measurement	up to 12 months
Energy Expenditure	Energy expenditure as measured with indirect calorimetrie	up to 6 months
Screentime	Screentime as measured with questionnaire. Subjects and their parents will report the average hours per day (weekday and weekend day) of screen-time (hours/day). Screen-time are activities like watching T.V., use of computer, playing videogames and the use of social media like Facebook or Instagram. Self-reported screen time will be reported separately for weekday and weekend day assessed with the following questions: 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks you watched TV on a normal weekday/weekend?' and 'How many hours a day during the last 4 weeks have you played console games or used a computer for your free time activities on a normal weekday/weekend? Possible responses are: 'not at all', '0.5 hours per day', 'one hour per day', '2 hours per day', '2.5 hours per day', '3 hours per day', '3.5 hours per day', '4 hours or more per day'. Total screen time was calculated by summing minutes spent in TV watching and computer use.	up to 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Maastricht University Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): November 9, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): December 1, 2020
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): September 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 9, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): February 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): October 8, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 1, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; childhood obesity; serious game
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Body Weight; Obesity; Pediatric Obesity; Overweight
• Other Study ID Numbers: NL61033.000.17

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No