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Wii: More whee than whew

It was hard enough to get your kids to go outside and play when their preferred alternative was to sit like stumps watching TV or doing a variety of things on the Internet other than being physically active. And now, they’ve got an excuse for staying indoors: exercise-themed video games.

“Hey, I’m getting plenty of exercise right here,” is the refrain heard by countless parents, who are often prone to caving in, while telling themselves that Wii Sports bowling or boxing or Dance Dance Revolution are at least better than nothing.

It turns out, based on research done by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, that they’re right. Activity video games are, in fact, roughly two to three times better than nothing.

They tested kids on four such games: the bowling and boxing games mentioned above, and levels 1 and 2 of Dance Dance. The results: Wii boxing and DDR 2 burn about three calories per minute — the equivalent of walking at a brisk (2.6 mph) pace — compared to the one per minute burned by watching TV or, presumably, staring at a video screen.

For the other two games, bowling and DDR 1, the increased burn was between 2 and 2.5 times greater than just sitting, more akin to a moderate (1.9 mph) pace.

These numbers could provide the basis for a very savvy marketing campaign by the activity game makers, but the researchers who conducted the study made clear that such indoor games are not vigorous exercise on the order of tag, soccer, jumping rope, skateboarding or almost all outdoor sports and games. Activities that get your kids out of the house and playing remain the healthiest and best for them.

California Dreaming: More like a financial and fitness nightmare

Here are a few statistics regarding the state of California that could get some residents of the Golden State grinding their teeth.

• Amount by which the state is in the red financially: $26.3 billion.
• Percentage of residents who are obese or overweight: 59.
• Percentage who are physically inactive: 48.

According to a report from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, there is a connection between those numbers. The connection is the $41 billion that the report claims the state’s overweight and/or inactive citizens drain from its business community and its public till each year, an amount divided equally between health care expenses and lost productivity through illness and absenteeism, etc.

By 2011, they warn, the losses will amount to almost $53 billion.

“They,” of course, may be dead wrong; “they” have been wrong plenty of times in the past. But the center definitely did its homework, basing its estimate on analyses of databases of health insurance claims, usage of pharmaceuticals, Medi-Cal claims, absenteeism rates, disability claims, weight-related health problems that limit earning capacity, and so forth.

In any case, the center takes its own estimates very seriously, and recommends nothing short of an across-the-board assault on Californians’ eating and activity patterns that would involve almost every state agency, including transportation, city planning, education and public assistance.

The ultimate goal is a thoroughly integrated attempt to health-up the typical Californian’s very lifestyle, with prevention as the cornerstone of the state health care system.

This all makes such eminent sense that we can, unfortunately, safely predict that it will probably never happen.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 and is filed under Childhood obesity, Exercise and fitness, Kids and families, Obesity statistics, Public policy. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.