I am a mother of three kids - two of whom are boys.  I know that kids these days like to spend hours in front of their computers, TV and video games.  It wasn't like that for me - we didn't even have a television set until I was 12 years old.  But it is what kids do today.  They all do it and it's part of their culture.  Luckily for my children they don't have weight issues but we all know that kids are getting fatter and fatter with every year that passes.  Apparently around 25 % of Australian kids are overweight or obese now.  Britain is up there and America even worse.   And one of the main reasons cited for this obesity epidemic is the more sedentary lifestyles of kids today.

So I was interested to find out if this new brand of 'active' video games actually works.  Mainly I am referring to the Nintendo Wii here although there are others like it.  For anyone who doesn't know this - these games are played in front of a computer monitor or TV screen using the control in the same way that you would use a racquet, ball or club.  Other games also use a computerized mat for dancing, kickboxing running etc.

So I started to research this issue.  We don't have a Nintendo Wii in our house so I was relying on others to tell me what they think.  First up was my internet research which led me to some academic findings:

Robin Mellecker and Alison McManus from the University of Hong Kong report in the Journal Archive of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine (Sept 2008) that kids burn more than four times as many calories per minute playing an 'active' game rather than a seated one.  Also that the heart rate of these kids is significantly higher.

I also discovered that last year five British schools in Worcestershire trialled the use of Nintendo Wii active games as part of their PE lessons.  Results were positive with heart rate monitoring showing that children did get a work-out.  The kids were reportedly very enthusiastic about these new PE lessons too.

Next thing I phoned a Melbourne based dietician to see what she had to say on the subject.  She was of the opinion that "video games are no substitute for real exercise." And that children "should be encouraged to take part in sport, they are never going to get the same physical or social benefits from a video game".  A fair point I thought.  This same dietician also raised the point that if you start telling kids that you want them to play a video game you may be pushing them towards the non active type games too.  She did admit to sometimes encouraging parents to look at the active games if the child seemed very 'addicted' to video games however.

Then I started to ask around my friends and their children to see what they thought.  My own children who have played these games at other homes thought the idea that you might play them for fitness was quite funny.  They scoffed at the idea that you might actually get exercise from them.  Another friend reported that her boys were bored with the 'active' games and had reverted to the sedentary type games.  Only one mother - the mother of an overweight child said that she could see benefits.  Her daughter was too embarrassed by her weight to take part in dance classes but was enjoying using the Wii fit at home.  It did seem like she had to be encouraged to do her daily fitness though.  But maybe this is the answer for those kids that are so overweight that they shy away from sports or are too unfit even for regular sports.

What I did find though was a whole lot of older people who were having a blast with the Wii Fit and the Wii Sport.  A friend told me that her 70 year old mother and her pals would get together for Wii tennis.  Now this was interesting to me - Nintendo had got a whole new market here.  It got me thinking that maybe I would like a Nintendo Wii for myself (my children certainly don't need another game console).  I saw that I could even do Pilates with it now - what fun!

So despite the academic findings I am not convinced that these games are a substitute for kids doing real sport.  I don't believe they will get nearly the amount of exercise as they would in a real game and none of the other social benefits.  But I suppose that some exercise - even if just to wave your arm about is better than none at all.  And one cannot deny the fun factor!  I would be really interested to know what other people think so please post a comment.