Feasibility of the Gaming Tool Food Quartet in Food-safety Education

Abstract

Objective: To examine the feasibility of the gaming tool Food Quartet (its rules, content, level of acceptance, etc.) as an educational tool in food-safety education for fifth- and sixth-graders.
Methods: Between September and November 2011, fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school children and their teachers in a city and town (six schools) participated in Food Quartet, a gaming tool involving cards for education on food, especially food safety, and answered 10-item self-administered questionnaires before and after playing. McNemar tests were performed to compare the percentages of correct answers and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to compare total scores. Children and teachers evaluated the content and rules of the game.
Results: In total, 294 children and 28 teachers completed the questionnaire. Although the percentage of correct answers on individual items fluctuated between pre- and post-tests, the total scores were higher in the post-test than in the pre-test (Z = −3.567, p < 0.001). Moreover, 91.8% of the children said, “the game was a lot of fun.” Of the 84.0% who answered an open-ended question, 34.0% noted, “I could study while having fun.” Additionally, 63.3% teachers responded to the open-ended question with comments like “children could improve their food knowledge” and “children could study while having fun.”
Conclusion: Children seemed to accept the rules of Food Quartet, which provides food-safety knowledge in an enjoyable format. Additional studies examining its effectiveness as an educational tool should be conducted.