MUSCAT: An interactive mobile game developed through a research project at Dhofar University is helping children in Oman learn about healthy eating, physical activity and lifestyle choices through culturally relevant, game-based education.
Titled Targeting Attributes for a Healthy Lifestyle Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) and a Serious Games Mobile Application – LaObese, the project is funded by the Strategic Research Programme of the Research and Innovation Authority in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
The research is led by Dr Nurul Akhmal Mohd Zulkefli, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Dhofar University's College of Arts and Applied Sciences. It combines multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques with a mobile application designed to make health education more engaging and accessible to children.
Unlike games developed solely for entertainment, serious games are designed to support educational, training, behavioural or health-related objectives. Through LaObese, children interact with different situations, make choices and receive feedback as they learn about food selection, physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits.
A key feature of the application is its emphasis on Omani and locally familiar foods. Rather than relying exclusively on generic international examples, the game incorporates foods that children may encounter at home, at school, in restaurants and in their communities.
The approach aims to help children understand that healthy eating involves more than simply labelling foods as good or bad. It introduces concepts such as balanced portions, nutritional value, healthier ingredients and appropriate consumption frequency, while highlighting the importance of combining nutritious food choices with an active lifestyle.
Dr Nurul Akhmal said the research uses MCDM to identify, evaluate and prioritise the attributes incorporated into the application. This approach enables the research team to assess healthy lifestyle choices against several criteria rather than relying on a single factor.
The findings highlight the potential of culturally relevant digital tools to make health education more meaningful by presenting information in a context children can recognise and understand. Incorporating familiar Omani foods also demonstrates how digital health education can be adapted to local communities.
The project further explores how interactive, game-based learning can encourage children to participate actively in health education. Instead of passively receiving information, they make decisions about food and physical activity and observe the feedback provided by the application.
Pre-test and post-test evaluations were conducted to assess children's understanding and decision-making across three main areas: food selection, physical activity and awareness of healthy lifestyles.
Dr Nurul Akhmal recommends that health education applications for children reflect local cultures and dietary habits, including foods they recognise and regularly consume. She also advocates using serious games as complementary educational tools in schools, health awareness campaigns, childhood nutrition programmes and family-based health education initiatives.
Further research could involve larger and more diverse groups of children from different regions of Oman. Longitudinal studies could also examine whether improvements in knowledge through game-based learning lead to lasting changes in eating habits and physical activity.
The research has resulted in scientific publications and presentations, including a paper published in the International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, which is indexed in Scopus and Web of Science.
The research team comprises Dr Nurul Akhmal, Dr Zainab Mohammed Al Nahdi, Dr Jayasree Radhamaniamma and Mukesh Madanan.