computer games reduce obesity

Computer Games reduce obesity!

Paradox? Can video games be used to reduce weight?

Dance Revolution (Xbox, Playstaion and soon the Wii) uses a 3x3 tiled

mat on which you danced to choreographed screen instructions. It's an

exhausting experience, and great fun. It's also a big hit among young

game players, both boys and girls. Try playing tennis, boxing or

anything on the Wii - you'll be dripping in aerobic induced sweat in

minutes.

Games and obesity

Research from West Virginia University looked at the impact of such

games on obesity. The initial clinical study was astounding. 50

children with a body mass index over the 85th percentile (threshold

for obesity) showed better arterial response to increased blood flow,

an increase in aerobic capacity, and no weight gain. In addition, all

the participants were more willing to try new activities and invite

friends over to play, and were more confident in participating in

physical education classes. So far, so good.

DDR mandated in schools

So they upped the size of the trial across 20 schools. So successful

was this trial that they have mandated the use of DDR across the

school system, making it part of PE. Konami weighed in with a $75k

grant.

FIT programme

Another scheme has seen the marvellous Guitar Hero (old rockers will

LOVE this), Groove and a dance version of Tetris being used in 200 US

schools. It's called the generation FIT programme.

We're only starting to see how this technology can be used in

education, but who would have thought that preventing obesity would

have been possible?