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Evaluating the Viability of Virtual Reality for Children's Food Choice Research: Comparative Mixed Methods Study.
Deepti Aggarwal1, Thuong Hoang1, Sze-Yen Tan2
1School of Information Technology, Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, 3125, Australia, 61 92445280 ext 03.
JMIR Human Factors
|July 2, 2026
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) shows potential for studying children's food choices, but current technology struggles with accurate size perception in virtual environments. Further development is needed for reliable research on child nutrition and behavior.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Virtual reality (VR) offers a controlled environment for studying food choices.
- Its viability for research with children, especially in public health, is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of VR for children's food choice research.
- To compare children's perception of food and container sizes in VR versus real-life (RL) settings.
Main Methods:
- A within-subject study with 437 children (5-12 years) compared food selection in VR and RL.
- Participants chose cereal and milk portions, with data analyzed for behavioral consistency and perceptual accuracy.
Main Results:
- Children consistently chose larger portions of unhealthy foods in both VR and RL.
- Significant difficulties were found in perceiving and matching container sizes between VR and RL environments.
Conclusions:
- Current VR technology has limitations for children's food choice studies due to size perception issues.
- Recommendations are provided for developing more ecologically valid immersive food environments for research.
