Virtual Reality as a Dietary Education Adjunct for Pediatric Patients With Obesity

Virtual Reality as a Dietary Education Adjunct for Pediatric Patients With Obesity: A Pragmatic, Randomized Pilot Study

Childhood obesity is a national crisis, effecting up to 1 in 5 of children in the US. In the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Pediatric Weight Management Clinic, the investigators educate parents and caregivers about the importance of dietary modification. In addition to physician guidance, the investigators partner with registered dieticians to counsel families during an hour-long interview. However, traditional methods of education are limited by long-term recall. A typical person only recalls 2- 3% of didactic content after a period of 30 days. In order to improve recall and increase involvement of our pediatric patients in their own dietary modifications, the investigators propose a pragmatic, randomized pilot study investigating the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in changing dietary choices and improving recall.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diabetes
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Virtual Reality Application

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 48
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
      • Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ages 6-18 years of age
• Able to consent or have parental consent
• Diagnosis of Obesity Grade 1, 2 and 3 at LPCH/SHC facilities

Exclusion Criteria:

• People who do not consent
• Significant Cognitive Impairment
• History of Severe Motion Sickness
• Visual Problems

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Dietary Consult with Virtual Reality (intervention); Those in the VR group will receive the same educational dietary review by the registered dietician, and additionally participate in a VR experience through an application called Chaos Café. In Chaos Café, patients are immersed into a computer-generated kitchen environment. A humorous robotic chef serves children different food groups. Gameplay is advanced by choosing healthy foods, while eating unhealthy foods does not advance the application.	Behavioral: Virtual Reality Application; In VR application, Chaos Café, patients are immersed into a computer-generated kitchen environment. A humorous robotic chef serves children different food groups. Gameplay is advanced by choosing healthy foods, while eating unhealthy foods does not advance the application.
No Intervention: Dietary Consult without Virtual Reality (SOC); Those in the SOC group will have the typical appointment, which includes a review of healthy diet choices with a registered dietitian and follow up according to clinic's SOC.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Immediate behavior modification	Immediate behavior modification will be assessed by comparing the selection of an appointment exit reward the end of the study visit. Participants will be presented with two options, either a bag of chips or a healthier alternative. Selection of reward will be recorded.	Duration of appointment, typically 2-3 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pediatric Adapted Liking Survey	The survey uses a continuous scale from -100 to 100 to indicate patients' like or dislike of certain foods. The survey was completed by participants after their dietary counseling. The responses were categorized into seven groups, 3 negative, 1 neutral, and 3 positive. -3=[-100,-67], -2=[-66,-34], -1=[-33,-1], 0=0, 1=[1,33], 2=[34,66], 3=[67,100]. Likability of foods were also categorized into fruits, fatty/salty/sugary (FSS), proteins and vegetables.	Duration of appointment, typically 2-3 hours
Nutritional knowledge survey	15-item survey based on the counseling sessions with questions such as "If I have vegetables at home, a healthy way to eat them would be: a) fresh, b) fried, c)with cheese dip, d)in a smoothie"	Duration of appointment, typically 2-3 hours
Satisfaction Survey	5-point satisfaction survey for participants who completed VR experience with questions such as "The technology helps me remember what good food choices are (select one option): (1) Not at all, (2), (3) A little bit, (4), (5) A lot"	Duration of appointment, typically 2-3 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Stanford University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 24, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 15, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 15, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 21, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 21, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 2, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 12, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2024
• Last Verified: June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Virtual Reality
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 63298

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