Wii games don't mean kids exercise more: study

(Reuters) - Virtual boxing, tennis and dancing along with video game systems may not be helping children meet daily exercise requirements, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that children who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch.

Some public health researchers have hoped that active video games might be an alternative to outdoor play and sports for at least some of the physical activity children need, especially for those who live in unsafe neighborhoods where playing outside isn't always an option.

"We expected that playing the video games would in fact lead to a substantial increase in physical activity in the children," said Tom Baranowski and colleagues at Baylor.

"Frankly, we were shocked by the complete lack of difference."

For the study, they passed out Wii consoles to 78 children who didn't already have one. Half were given their choice of an active game, such as Wii Sports or Dance Dance Revolution-Hottest Party 3, and the other half their choice of inactive game, such as Disney Sing-It Pop Hits or Super Mario Galaxy.

Halfway through the study, which was published in Pediatrics, the children -- all 9 to 12-years-old and above average weight -- got their choice of a second game from the same category as their first.

Baranowski and his colleagues tracked the children for 13 weeks, testing their physical activity levels with a motion-measuring device called an accelerometer.

Participants wore the devices on a belt during four different week-long periods throughout the study, which allowed the research team to determine when they were sedentary, lightly exercising, or engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, children with the active games didn't get any more exercise than those given inactive video games.

At weeks one, six, seven and 12, children in the active game group got an average of 25 to 28 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity each day, compared to between 26 and 29 minutes for those in the inactive video game group.

There was also no difference in the time spent doing light physical activity or being sedentary during any week the researchers monitored.

Baranowski said his team couldn't tell if children just didn't exert much energy playing the active games, or if they compensated for exercise they got playing Wii with less exercise at other points in the day.

Nintendo was not available for comment and other researchers said that while the games were no substitute for the real thing, they might be better than no exercise at all.

It's possible that children playing active Wii games burned a few extra calories that the movement device didn't pick up on -- for instance, if they were moving their arms a lot in a boxing game, said Jacob Barkley, an exercise scientist from Kent State University in Ohio who didn't take part in the study.

"Maybe the Wii isn't going to increase physical activity a whole heck of a lot," Barkley told Reuters Health.

"But it might increase caloric expenditure a bit more than a traditional sedentary video game, and if you do that on a daily basis that could have a cumulative effect that might be beneficial."

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Wii games don't mean kids exercise more: study

(Reuters) - Virtual boxing, tennis and dancing along with video game systems may not be helping children meet daily exercise requirements, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that children who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch.

Some public health researchers have hoped that active video games might be an alternative to outdoor play and sports for at least some of the physical activity children need, especially for those who live in unsafe neighborhoods where playing outside isn't always an option.

"We expected that playing the video games would in fact lead to a substantial increase in physical activity in the children," said Tom Baranowski and colleagues at Baylor.

"Frankly, we were shocked by the complete lack of difference."

For the study, they passed out Wii consoles to 78 children who didn't already have one. Half were given their choice of an active game, such as Wii Sports or Dance Dance Revolution-Hottest Party 3, and the other half their choice of inactive game, such as Disney Sing-It Pop Hits or Super Mario Galaxy.

Halfway through the study, which was published in Pediatrics, the children -- all 9 to 12-years-old and above average weight -- got their choice of a second game from the same category as their first.

Baranowski and his colleagues tracked the children for 13 weeks, testing their physical activity levels with a motion-measuring device called an accelerometer.

Participants wore the devices on a belt during four different week-long periods throughout the study, which allowed the research team to determine when they were sedentary, lightly exercising, or engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, children with the active games didn't get any more exercise than those given inactive video games.

At weeks one, six, seven and 12, children in the active game group got an average of 25 to 28 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity each day, compared to between 26 and 29 minutes for those in the inactive video game group.

There was also no difference in the time spent doing light physical activity or being sedentary during any week the researchers monitored.

Baranowski said his team couldn't tell if children just didn't exert much energy playing the active games, or if they compensated for exercise they got playing Wii with less exercise at other points in the day.

Nintendo was not available for comment and other researchers said that while the games were no substitute for the real thing, they might be better than no exercise at all.

It's possible that children playing active Wii games burned a few extra calories that the movement device didn't pick up on -- for instance, if they were moving their arms a lot in a boxing game, said Jacob Barkley, an exercise scientist from Kent State University in Ohio who didn't take part in the study.

"Maybe the Wii isn't going to increase physical activity a whole heck of a lot," Barkley told Reuters Health.

"But it might increase caloric expenditure a bit more than a traditional sedentary video game, and if you do that on a daily basis that could have a cumulative effect that might be beneficial."

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Wii games don't mean kids exercise more: study

(Reuters) - Virtual boxing, tennis and dancing along with video game systems may not be helping children meet daily exercise requirements, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that children who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch.

Some public health researchers have hoped that active video games might be an alternative to outdoor play and sports for at least some of the physical activity children need, especially for those who live in unsafe neighborhoods where playing outside isn't always an option.

"We expected that playing the video games would in fact lead to a substantial increase in physical activity in the children," said Tom Baranowski and colleagues at Baylor.

"Frankly, we were shocked by the complete lack of difference."

For the study, they passed out Wii consoles to 78 children who didn't already have one. Half were given their choice of an active game, such as Wii Sports or Dance Dance Revolution-Hottest Party 3, and the other half their choice of inactive game, such as Disney Sing-It Pop Hits or Super Mario Galaxy.

Halfway through the study, which was published in Pediatrics, the children -- all 9 to 12-years-old and above average weight -- got their choice of a second game from the same category as their first.

Baranowski and his colleagues tracked the children for 13 weeks, testing their physical activity levels with a motion-measuring device called an accelerometer.

Participants wore the devices on a belt during four different week-long periods throughout the study, which allowed the research team to determine when they were sedentary, lightly exercising, or engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, children with the active games didn't get any more exercise than those given inactive video games.

At weeks one, six, seven and 12, children in the active game group got an average of 25 to 28 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity each day, compared to between 26 and 29 minutes for those in the inactive video game group.

There was also no difference in the time spent doing light physical activity or being sedentary during any week the researchers monitored.

Baranowski said his team couldn't tell if children just didn't exert much energy playing the active games, or if they compensated for exercise they got playing Wii with less exercise at other points in the day.

Nintendo was not available for comment and other researchers said that while the games were no substitute for the real thing, they might be better than no exercise at all.

It's possible that children playing active Wii games burned a few extra calories that the movement device didn't pick up on -- for instance, if they were moving their arms a lot in a boxing game, said Jacob Barkley, an exercise scientist from Kent State University in Ohio who didn't take part in the study.

"Maybe the Wii isn't going to increase physical activity a whole heck of a lot," Barkley told Reuters Health.

"But it might increase caloric expenditure a bit more than a traditional sedentary video game, and if you do that on a daily basis that could have a cumulative effect that might be beneficial."

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Wii games don't mean kids exercise more: study

(Reuters) - Virtual boxing, tennis and dancing along with video game systems may not be helping children meet daily exercise requirements, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that children who were given so-called active video games to play on a Nintendo Wii didn't end up logging any more moderate or vigorous physical activity than those given games they could play sitting on the couch.

Some public health researchers have hoped that active video games might be an alternative to outdoor play and sports for at least some of the physical activity children need, especially for those who live in unsafe neighborhoods where playing outside isn't always an option.

"We expected that playing the video games would in fact lead to a substantial increase in physical activity in the children," said Tom Baranowski and colleagues at Baylor.

"Frankly, we were shocked by the complete lack of difference."

For the study, they passed out Wii consoles to 78 children who didn't already have one. Half were given their choice of an active game, such as Wii Sports or Dance Dance Revolution-Hottest Party 3, and the other half their choice of inactive game, such as Disney Sing-It Pop Hits or Super Mario Galaxy.

Halfway through the study, which was published in Pediatrics, the children -- all 9 to 12-years-old and above average weight -- got their choice of a second game from the same category as their first.

Baranowski and his colleagues tracked the children for 13 weeks, testing their physical activity levels with a motion-measuring device called an accelerometer.

Participants wore the devices on a belt during four different week-long periods throughout the study, which allowed the research team to determine when they were sedentary, lightly exercising, or engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise.

Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, children with the active games didn't get any more exercise than those given inactive video games.

At weeks one, six, seven and 12, children in the active game group got an average of 25 to 28 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity each day, compared to between 26 and 29 minutes for those in the inactive video game group.

There was also no difference in the time spent doing light physical activity or being sedentary during any week the researchers monitored.

Baranowski said his team couldn't tell if children just didn't exert much energy playing the active games, or if they compensated for exercise they got playing Wii with less exercise at other points in the day.

Nintendo was not available for comment and other researchers said that while the games were no substitute for the real thing, they might be better than no exercise at all.

It's possible that children playing active Wii games burned a few extra calories that the movement device didn't pick up on -- for instance, if they were moving their arms a lot in a boxing game, said Jacob Barkley, an exercise scientist from Kent State University in Ohio who didn't take part in the study.

"Maybe the Wii isn't going to increase physical activity a whole heck of a lot," Barkley told Reuters Health.

"But it might increase caloric expenditure a bit more than a traditional sedentary video game, and if you do that on a daily basis that could have a cumulative effect that might be beneficial."

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

South Korea, U.S. begin major military exercise

South Korea and the United States began a major annual military exercise Monday despite North Korean threats of possible retaliation over what it calls a rehearsal for invasion.

A spokesman for Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the start of Key Resolve, a computerised command post exercise which involves some 200,000 South Korean troops and 2,100 US soldiers including 800 from abroad.

The US military said in a statement that the North had been informed a month ago of the exercise dates and "the non-provocative nature of this training".

But Pyongyang's official news agency Monday described the drill scheduled to end March 9 as "an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity" of the North while it is still in mourning for late leader Kim Jong-Il.

"The army and people of the DPRK (North) are fully ready to fight a war with them," it said, warning Seoul and Washington of possible "catastrophic consequences".

The country's National Defence Commission on Saturday denounced the drill -- which will be followed by joint air, ground and naval field training exercise Foal Eagle from March 1 to April 30 -- as a "silent declaration of war".

"Our army and people will foil the moves of the group of traitors... for a new war with a sacred war of our own style," said the commission, the North's top ruling body.

The United States has based troops in the South since the 1950-53 war and the force currently numbers 28,500.

Pyongyang habitually denounces US annual exercises with South Korean forces while Seoul and Washington say the drills are merely defensive in nature.

The North has taken a hostile tone with the South since Kim Jong-Il died on December 17 and was replaced by his youngest son Jong-Un.

The new leader has been appointed armed forces chief and has visited several units in an apparent attempt to burnish his military credentials.

Kim inspected two army battalions at a base near the border with the South, state media said Sunday, adding that one of them had staged the shelling of a South Korean island in November 2010 which killed four people.

The leader ordered "a powerful retaliatory strike" if Monday's drills intrude on North Korean territory, it said.

The South's military has strengthened monitoring of the North's activities to guard against potential attacks, Yonhap news agency said. It said RF-4 and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft would be fully mobilised and F-15K fighter jets would be on emergency standby.

Artillery units near the land border would also stand ready to immediately hit back if attacked, it said.

The North's hostile comments came despite talks in Beijing last week with the United States, about a possible resumption of six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations.

Baek Seung-Joo of the South's Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said the recent hostile rhetoric is aimed at cementing solidarity among the North's elite while Pyongyang tries to mend ties with Washington.

"Jong-Un needs to prevent any divisions in domestic politics while the North-US negotiations are underway," he told AFP.

Baek said the North might launch a sudden retaliation after the exercise is over, but any such attack may be delayed until after the South's parliamentary election on April 11.

"The North wouldn't want a situation in which angry South Koreans refuse to vote for opposition parties seeking reconciliation with Pyongyang. So they will carefully time any attack to prevent such setbacks," he said.

View the original article here