SEOUL, KOREA — What happened to going outside to play with your neighborhood friends Twenty years ago, children did not have the technologically advanced games like kids of today. Most of their time was spent playing outside with their friends, and then coming home when mom called them for dinner. Children of this generation have the advantage of PC’s, laptops, iPads, and numerous kinds of video games. Most involve just sitting with the control attached to your hands, though systems like Wii and Xbox advertises games such as tennis and baseball to get children off the couch and into the game. Although modern games are much “cooler” than caveman games in the past and promote various types of active sports, they cannot replace physical activity that children require on a daily basis.
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that "active" video games such as "Wii Fit Plus" or "Dance Dance Revolution" don´t actually get kids up moving more than other video games. The researchers gave Wii consoles to 78 children aged between 9 and 12. Half of them received "active" games and the other half received "inactive" games to play with.
Tom Baranowski, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and author of this study stated, "Frankly, we were shocked by the complete lack of difference. Kids given "active" video games showed no more overall physical exertion than those who used only their thumbs for regular video games. There was no evidence that children receiving two active video games and the peripherals necessary to run them were any more active over a 12-week period than those who received two inactive video games," Baranowski concluded.
“Although the children selected for this study generated moderate physical activity they did not exert immense intensely on their own or compensated for the increased intensity by moving less during other times of the day,” researchers stated. The researchers also explained that based on the outcomes, there is no reason to assume that “active” games will promote a healthier lifestyle or offer public health benefits to children.
Parents need to ensure that their kids get enough exercise. Pediatricians recommend that children ages 2 years and older should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise on most, preferably all, days of the week. By doing this, children can begin a healthy lifestyle that will last until adulthood.
