title: Technology-based intervention for healthy lifestyle promotion in Italian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthy lifestyle promotion programs are essential to prevent metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Adolescents could represent the ideal target population especially using serious web games.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test the improvement of knowledge about healthy nutrition in adolescents and to analyze participants' enjoyment in playing the web game "Gustavo in Gnam's Planet" in comparison with a leisure web game.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-five adolescents were engaged in three supervised group sessions. Measures about healthy food knowledge and games' enjoyment were collected during the three stages of assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After playing Gustavo in Gnam's Planet, participants significantly improved their knowledge on a healthy diet, compared to the recreational web games; whereas the level of fun experienced while playing the recreational and the educational games was not significantly different.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gustavo in Gnam's Planet is an important promising tool, with entertainment property, to promote a healthy lifestyle in Italian adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fraticelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.affiliation: Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Polcini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelika Anna
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mohn
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Psicologiche, della Salute e del Territorio, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fulcheri
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina e Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Università "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vitacolonna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D000070497:Healthy Lifestyle; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D013672:Technology; D055815:Young Adult