Kids who use exercise-based video games while also on a weight management program may see a boost in their activity level, a recent study found.
Past studies have examined the negative effects of kids remaining sedentary while playing video games, but didn't look at those games that may actually require some physical activity.
"We thought - if you received active games - maybe we can turn this lemon into lemonade," lead author Dr. Deneen Vojta told Reuters Health. "Wouldn't it be great if instead of beating on kids about screen time we turned screen time into a positive?"
Researchers recruited 75 overweight and obese children for their 16-week randomized study. Participants were enrolled in a local weight management program and some were also given an Xbox game console and two active games - Kinect Adventures! and Kinect Sports. An accelerometer was used to measure the kids' movement throughout the day.
At the study's beginning, about 67 percent of the children, ages 8-12, had a BMI that put them in the overweight category, and the rest were considered obese.
Children in the group that received the active games added about seven minutes of moderate to vigorous activity and about three minutes of vigorous activity to their daily routines over the 16 weeks - the equivalent to about 4 pounds lost over that same period. Meanwhile, kids only in the weight loss program didn't show any significant changes.
"Sure enough, the outcomes were very, very good," Vojta said.
By the end of the study, a greater percentage of kids in the active-gaming group no longer fit into the overweight category.
Vojta said she and her team are working on a weight-loss program that can be incorporated into the home along with active video games.
"In many ways, these home-based active gaming solutions solve two problems," she said.
