“Video Games That Make Kids Move Burn Calories” plus 1 more

Video Games That Make Kids Move Burn Calories

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 09:18 PM PST

By Maureen Salamon
HealthDay Reporter

Latest Exercise & Fitness News

MONDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- Interactive video games that require high-energy movement raised middle school kids' metabolisms to levels typically seen with moderate or vigorous exercise, a new study finds.

Researchers evaluated the effect of six forms of so-called "exergaming" on energy expenditure in 39 children of various body-mass indexes (BMIs) at a youth fitness research and training center at the University of Massachusetts.

The children, whose average age was between 11 and 12, had their metabolic rates measured after walking on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour and after 10 minutes on each of six exergames. The digital games included home and commercial versions such as Dance Dance Revolution, Nintendo Wii Boxing, LightSpace Bug Invasion, and Cybex Trazer Goalie Wars, Xavix J-Mat and Sportwall.

The researchers noticed that children with higher BMIs -- which included 21 children who were either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight -- enjoyed the exergames more than children of normal weight, though all of them expended similar amounts of energy.

"They obviously enjoyed all the games a lot and it's another tool for parents and practitioners to use to increase physical activity in children," said study author Bruce W. Bailey, an assistant professor of exercise sciences at Brigham Young University. "As far as energy expenditure, if you choose the right levels and the right games, you can get some decent physical activity."

The study is published in the March 7 online issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Because "screen time" -- the use of television, videos, computers or video games -- is usually sedentary, it has been associated with the nation's 19 percent childhood obesity rate. But, recent interest in activity-promoting video games may be a viable addition to more traditional exercise, Bailey said.

The exergames produced a fourfold to eightfold increase in energy use compared to resting, the study said, and four of the six games tested resulted in higher energy expenditure.

"I think it's interesting and potentially useful," he said. "Will [kids] substitute these games for other games? That's an interesting question. If they can, it would have at least an impact on energy expenditure."

Elizabeth DiRico, an exercise physiologist for Cigna Healthcare in Findlay, Ohio, said Bailey's findings mirrored the results of a similar study she did with college-age students in 2008.

The exergames are "way better" than sedentary digital games and introduce kids to other forms of exercise they may not have tried, said DiRico, who works on health coaching, counseling and preventive care with corporate clients.

"The thing with kids is not only that they're sitting in front of video games, but there's often a lot of mindless snacking going on. This makes it harder to snack while they're doing it," she said. "I think the major thing is that this is an alternate or supplement to traditional exercise plans."

SOURCE: Bruce W. Bailey, Ph.D., assistant professor, exercise sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Elizabeth DiRico, exercise physiologist, Cigna Healthcare, Findlay, Ohio; March 7, 2011, Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, online

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Active Video Games Help Kids Burn Calories

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 03:21 AM PST

Study Shows Kids With the Highest BMIs Enjoy 'Exergames' the Most

By Brenda Goodman

WebMD Health News

March 7, 2011 -- Video games that mix entertainment with exercise can help kids burn calories and have fun at the same time, a new study shows.

The study had 39 middle-school aged kids play six different kinds of "exergames" -- video games that require a player to move around.

The games included games such as trying to keep up with a cartoon Jackie Chan as he hurdled down the streets of Hong Kong, boxing a virtual opponent, and chasing colored lights on a mat, either to follow dance moves or stomp on bugs.

Researchers compared the energy required to play those games or walk on a treadmill at a speed of 3 miles per hour to energy expended at rest.

Researchers found that exergames increased the amount of calories each child burned 400% to 800% over their resting metabolic rate, an amount that was at least as good as treadmill walking.

Exergames and Kids With High BMIs

Although all the kids said they had fun, the kids with the highest BMIs were the ones who reported liking exergames the most.

"I think that's important," says study researcher Kyle McInnis, ScD, a professor in the department of exercise and sports sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

"Typically, these kids with higher BMIs might be less exposed to sports or have a history of being less successful in activity-based games just because it's more difficult to move around," McInnis tells WebMD.

"It was capitalizing on their ability to be successful. In other words, it was kind of built-in positive reinforcement."

Other experts say they have noticed the same phenomenon.

"If you're in grade three or four and you're the last one picked for the team, that doesn't do a lot for your self-confidence," says Larry Katz, PhD, professor of kinesiology and director of the Sport Technology Research Laboratory at the University of Calgary in Canada.

"The nice thing about the exergames is that because it's individualized, you can improve relative to yourself," says Katz.

The study is published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

Previous studies have shown that active video games can help kids increase their physical activity, but experts who reviewed the study for WebMD noted that this one was one of the first to look at how hard kids are working when they play.

"One thing that was unique about their study that I haven't seen in other studies was metabolic measurement," Katz says, because you're actually measuring intensity, which is nice because people talk about it, but now you can actually measure whether it's moderate to extensive," he says. Katz has studied the effect of exergames on kids, but was not involved in the current study.

The study was also one of the first to measure enjoyment of exergaming, experts say.

"People, in general, tend to participate in activities they enjoy. That's true of adults, but it's probably more true of children," says study researcher Bruce W. Bailey, PhD, assistant professor of exercise and sports science at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Kids Games

Wednesday, March 9, 2011