NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids may spend too much time in front of the TV, but
"active" video games are
getting some of them on their feet and moving, according to a study out Monday.
Of more than
1,200 Canadian high schoolers researchers surveyed, one-quarter said they
played "exergames." And on average, that translated to almost an hour
of exercise on two days out of the week.
That,
researchers say, gets kids part-way to the exercise dose experts recommend: an
hour of moderate to vigorous activity on most days of the week.
Active video
games - like Nintendo's Wii Fit, Dance Dance Revolution, and Sony EyeToy
exergames - get kids off the couch and dancing, boxing, doing yoga and playing
sports in their living rooms.
Some small
studies have found that they can help kids burn calories and possibly shed a
little weight.
But it
hasn't been clear how often kids use the games in the "real world."
Erin K.
O'Loughlin, the lead researcher on the new study, said she was surprised that
so many kids use the games.
"And
they're exercising at levels that may help them meet guidelines," said
O'Loughlin, of the University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.
"I
would never say this should replace regular physical activity," O'Loughlin
added. "Kids should still be going outside and playing and getting
exercise."
But the
reality is that many are not, she said. So if exergames help some kids get off
the couch and sweat, that's better than being completely sedentary.
And,
O'Loughlin said, the games may help some kids gain confidence in their sports
skills - possibly enough that they'll want to start playing sports the
old-fashioned way.
MORE LIKELY
STRESSED ABOUT WEIGHT
The
findings, reported in the journal Pediatrics, are based on a survey of 1,241
Montreal high school students. The kids answered questions on their weight and
lifestyle habits, including exergaming.
Overall,
girls were more likely to play exergames: 29 percent did, versus 16 percent of
boys.
Exergamers
were also more likely than other kids to be stressed about their weight, or to
spend more than two hours a day watching TV.
O'Loughlin
said the games may be especially appealing to some kids who are insecure about
their weight and exercise abilities - especially girls.
Video games
cost money, of course, and that could be a barrier, O'Loughlin said.
The games
themselves run $15 to $20 or more. And the console systems generally range
between $100 and $300.
But,
O'Loughlin noted, surveys show that most U.S. kids already have video game
systems at home. And if parents buy active games instead of traditional
sedentary ones, the costs could be minimal.
"If you
notice that your kid is spending a lot of time in front of the screen, this
might be something you'd want to try," O'Loughlin said.
In general,
experts recommend that kids get no more than two hours of "screen
time" - TV and computers - each day. So active games would ideally need to
replace, not add to, kids' screen time.
In the past,
one criticism of active video games has been that kids could advance through
them without ever getting on their feet. But newer motion-tracking technology
has changed that, O'Loughlin noted.
"You
have to actually move to win the game," she said.
The study
was funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Institute of Public
Health of Quebec. None of the researchers reports any financial interests in
the work.
SOURCE:
http://bit.ly/U1lyw0 Pediatrics, online October 1, 2012.
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