Although I was initially opposed to the idea, my wife recently decided to purchase a Nintendo Wii gaming system for our 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. Like many school-age children, our two sons already seem to have more sports classes, academics outside of school, and play dates than they have time to attend. (Oh, and let’s not forget the daily onslaught of homework they bring home from school every night!) However, after being overruled by my wife, I resigned myself to yet another (TV-centric) distraction to Let our kids take care of it. with each day.
Shortly after installing the Wii gaming system in our home, both of our children were happily immersed in various fantasy games with each other, jumping around our living room while clutching the wireless remotes, screaming and laughing the entire time. From time to time, despite my feigned lack of interest in his new gaming toy, I was also drawn to a vigorous game of Wii bowling or Wii table tennis. While playing these and other Wii games with our hyperkinetic 9-year-old daughter, I found myself breaking a sweat in the process! Soon after, we also bought some additional “Wii Fitness” games, including a “step pad” that allows players to perform step exercises with a group of imaginary partners. So I watched, with some amusement, as our boisterous 9-year-old quickly jumped up and down the step along with her imaginary friends, clapping and waving her arms in the process.
While I still have some doubts about having a video game system at home, I was impressed that our exercise-averse kids have found an entertaining way to burn off some extra calories with Wii exercise games. Therefore, this week’s health research review column focuses on the potential health benefits that may be associated with exercise-related video games (“exergames”), including the Nintendo Wii system we own. in our living room.
A recently published clinical research study, which appears in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, sought to actually measure the number of calories burned while playing video-based “exergames.” In this study, 39 boys and girls (mean age 12 years) were asked to participate in various fitness-related video games. These games included Dance Dance Revolution, Light Space Bug Invasion, Nintendo Wii Boxing, Cybex Trazer Goalie Wars, Sportwall, and Xavix J-Mat. These children were also asked to walk on a treadmill set at a pace of 3 miles per hour (mph). Using standardized metabolic measurement equipment, the energy expenditure associated with these physical activities was measured in “equivalent metabolic task values” (or “mets”).
At a time when obesity is rampant among adults and children, the findings of this new study have further lessened my reservations about the Nintendo Wii gaming system that now resides in our living room. First, all six different measured activities significantly increased these children’s energy expenditure above resting levels. Walking at a moderately fast speed of 3 mph on a treadmill resulted in an average energy expenditure of 4.9 mets. By comparison, while playing Wii Boxing, these kids reached an average of 4.2 meters. The energy expenditure of the remaining four “exergames” was even more impressive: 5.4 meters for Dance Dance Revolution, 5.9 meters for Cybex Trazer Goalie Wars, 6.4 meters for Light Space Bug Invasion, 7.0 meters for Xavix J-Mat and 7.1 meters for sports wall.
The findings of this study are very impressive. Just to put the measured energy expenditures observed with the six activities evaluated in this clinical research study into perspective, moderate physical activity, which includes activities such as walking at a brisk pace, swimming, and bicycling at a moderate pace, is associated with an average energy expenditure of 3 to 6 mets. Vigorous physical activity, which includes activities such as jogging, mountain climbing, playing tennis, or bicycling uphill, involves an energy expenditure of more than 6 mets. All five of these “exergames” were associated with an energy expenditure level of at least “moderate physical activity,” while three of these game systems were actually associated with “vigorous physical activity” levels more commonly associated with intense aerobic exercise.
As we grapple with the rising incidence of obesity among an increasingly sedentary generation of boys and girls in the United States and many other countries around the world, the use of “exergames” such as those evaluated in this clinical research , may offer our children the opportunity to combine the video games many of them love to play with levels of exercise previously associated with high-intensity sports that are increasingly being phased out of physical activity at school and after school. fitness programs. The findings of this important study strongly suggest that it is possible to combine video games with significant levels of exercise, and in a format that many children will find entertaining and fun. So, in the end, my wife’s decision to buy the Nintendo Wii system may not have been such a bad idea after all…
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