While it may be true that interactive games like those made for Nintendo's Wii console encourage players to get up and move, a study has determined that these games don't keep children active enough to keep them healthy. One example of research that was published in the
British Journal of Sports Medicine was the discovery that real tennis is 77 percent more physically demanding than the video version.
"The study authors calculated that in a typical week, a child who played Wii sports would use about 2% more energy than one playing sedentary computer games. They said the increase was 'trivial', and the activity was not intense enough to be counted in the recommended daily amount of physical activity."
Though Wii-like gaming may offer some benefit to a child's metabolic health, the research is inconclusive in this area. The bottom line, experts say, is that virtual tennis or boxing are no substitute for the real thing. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Labels: exercise, sports, video_games