BackgroundYouths eat fewer fruits and vegetables than recommended. Effective methods are needed to increase and maintain their fruit and vegetable consumption. Goal setting has been an effective behavior change procedure among adults, but has had limited effectiveness among youths. Implementation intentions are specific plans to facilitate goal attainment. Redefining goal setting to include implementation intentions may be an effective way to increase effectiveness. Video games offer a controlled venue for conducting behavioral research and testing hypotheses to identify mechanisms of effect.ObjectiveThis report describes the protocol that guided the design and evaluation of Squire’s Quest! II, a video game aimed to increase child fruit and vegetable consumption.MethodsSquire’s Quest! II is a 10-episode videogame promoting fruit and vegetable consumption to 4th and 5th grade children (approximately 9-11 year old youths). A four group randomized design (n=400 parent/child dyads) was used to systematically test the effect of two types of implementation intentions (action, coping) on fruit and vegetable goal attainment and consumption of 4th and 5th graders. Data collection occurred at baseline, immediately post game-play, and 3 months later. Child was the unit of assignment. Three dietary recalls were collected at each data collection period by trained interviewers using the Nutrient Data System for Research (NDSR 2009). Psychosocial and process data were also collected.ResultsTo our knowledge, this is the first research to explore the effect of implementation intentions on child fruit and vegetable goal attainment and consumption.ConclusionsThis intervention will contribute valuable information regarding whether implementation intentions are effective with elementary age children.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01004094

to assess understanding and benefits. Results showed that 94% reported HFA was "beneficial" or "very beneficial" to their health, 6% reported HFA identified questions they now want to ask their physician about their health, 86% identified at least 1 community resource they plan to use and 74% identified at least 1 health practice change. Conclusion:Results demonstrate this supportive-educational intervention can have an improvement in the participant's level of understanding of their disease process and appears to decrease readmission rates. The HFA appears to also empower patients to ask questions, discuss issues and become an active participant within their health care team. Allowing and encouraging the participation of family and care givers has also shown to be beneficial. Further studies are needed to evaluate the ability to retain education and improve outcomes.

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