Good news: gamers can have their cake and eat it too. It’s no big secret that kids, American kids anyway, are fat. Like, all of them. When’s the last time you’ve been to a shopping mall? And with nothing whatsoever to back it up, I blame video games. Not the internet or TV or fast food in school lunchrooms. Just video games.It’s weird but no one’s studied yet in a proper scientific way the impact of physical video games on kids. That probably has at least something to do with no one but no one, starting with me, wanting to admit that kids can get in shape playing video games. Science is great and all, but still tends to look first for things it wants to see.Finally, a pair of researchers from Brigham Young University and the University of Massachusetts conducted a study on so-called exergames and fat kids, set to be printed in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, to see if, you know, they’re a real replacement for real exercise, e.g. if they are in fact real exercise. The results: yes they are, based on sessions with Dance Dance Revolution, LightSpace (Bug Invasion), Nintendo Wii (Boxing), Cybex Trazer (Goalie Wars), Sportwall, and Xavix (J-Mat), and kids.“Active video games have the potential to increase energy expenditure during otherwise sedentary video gaming and may provide a viable adjunct to more traditional exercise,” the study reports. “The potential of these games to promote fitness and extended periods of moderate to vigorous activity in normal and overweight youth has not been evaluated.”“Although exergaming is most likely not the solution to the epidemic of reduced physical activity in children,” the study concludes. “It appears to be a potentially innovative strategy that can be used to reduce sedentary time, increase adherence to exercise programs, and promote enjoyment of physical activity. This may be especially important for at-risk populations, specifically children who carry excess body weight.”Moreover, the study found that exergaming makes chubby kids happier than skinny kids. Though I could speculate that might have something to do with skinny kids being less sedentary in general and, thus, have a bit more experience with the outside, non-gaming world and its myriad superfun ways of exercising. Like riding a bike or playing soccer with real people.Also note before you start yelling at me: I’m not making fun of obesity. I’m making of the media’s tendency to obsess over weight issues in general, particularly childhood weight issues.Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.
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