ANALYSIS
OF THE EFFICACY OF THE GAME PYRAMID POWER AS A NUTRITION TEACHING TOOL
FOR THE SENIOR POPULATION (50 + YEARS)
Amy Peterson, East Carolina University, Morrisville, NC.
The
purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the game
Pyramid Power to teach three recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid
as compared to a standard lecture on the Pyramid. The three recommendations
taught by the lecture and game are what foods belong in each food group,
what amount of food constitutes a serving size, and how many servings
from each food group should be consumed to constitute a healthy
diet. The subjects for this study were selected from various senior
community centers in Raleigh, NC. All subjects were 50 + years.
One group of seniors received the lecture and a different group of seniors
played the Pyramid Power game. A pre and post-assessment test
was administered to the subjects to determine the change in their knowledge
regarding the three Food Guide Pyramid recommendations. If the game
proves efficacious then health educators will have a new educational
tool to teach the elderly population (50+ years) three basic recommendations
of the Food Guide Pyramid in order to improve their overall diet.
The overall goal is for seniors to have fun interacting with others
while learning three basic recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid
that will assist them in making healthier food choices for an improved
overall diet.
Age
related changes such as senses of sight, hearing, reaction time, and
memory can create the need for an active means of presenting new material
especially nutrition material. A nutrition game that provides
competition, interaction, visual aids, and teaches nutrition concepts
at the same time can have learning advantages over other teaching methods
such as lectures or presentations which are often employed by health
educators. The traditional classroom setting is not as effective
for the fifty plus age group and does not provide the social interaction
that a game based class would provide.
Results
to show if there is a significant difference in the teaching ability
of the game versus the lecture at alpha =0.05 will be available in July
1999. Funding for this project was provided by the principal investigator.
Contact
person:
Amy Peterson
East Carolina University
2021 Narrow Leaf Dr.
Morrisville, NC 27560
Telephone: 919/462/4383
or 919/656/3418
E-mail: amypet@mindspring.com
