Nothing like a little DDR to work away the pounds

[Coaster Palooza]

Here is a link to the article of how to "slim" down the kids in West Virginia.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070201/tc_zd/200119;_ylt=Ao4W9Zk3Tcgv6S7luMi9Zx8DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - West Virginia, which has the worst childhood obesity problem in the United States, is stepping up plans to use Konami Corp.'s "Dance Dance Revolution" to battle the bulge in its schools.

 

The state, which plans to put the popular dancing video game in every one of its public schools, said on Wednesday research suggested that it helped put a halt to weight gain.

 

Preliminary results from a 24-week study of 50 overweight or obese children, aged 7 to 12, showed that those who played the game at home for at least 30 minutes five days per week maintained their weight and saw a reduction in some risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

 

The study's control group included a dozen children who did not play the game for the first 12 weeks, then did so for remainder of the study period. Those children piled on an average of 6 pounds during the first portion of the study but saw their weight stabilize in the second half.

 

The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency sponsored the research project, which primarily involved children of its policy holders.

 

Food intake was not monitored as part of the study, said Emily Murphy, a pediatric exercise physiologist from the West Virginia University School of Medicine's pediatrics department, who was part of the research team.

 

Murphy said that, prior to the study, most of the children reported feeling awkward about participating in gym and physical activity at school.

 

Following the study, children from the group reported feeling more confident and willing to try other exercises, she said.

 

Murphy West Virginia plans to develop after-school clubs for playing the game.

 

"It's going to allow kids to be active in an after-school activity that's not sports," she said.

 

Obesity has been rising fast around the globe, prompting health experts to warn that lifestyle-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes may cut average life expectancy for generations of youth.

[BelizeIt]

Wow! Is this the best solution the West Virginia school system could come up with? Lets see if you have 1 DDR machine and 300 or so students in a school......I'm sure it will make a hugh impact!

 

Did some politican from the state receive a nice campaign contribution from Konami or what? Because Konami would be the only one to benefit from a DDR machine in every school.

 

I don't know how many Fat Kids would want to be put on display in front of all of their classmates, as their bulbous bodies jiggle to the music. (We all know how kind kids/teenagers can be about their fellow students)

 

A more realistic solution to the obesity problem would be to cut off a key source of unnecessary caloric intake, namely Soda + Candy machines. But then that's Crazy talk, because those are easy revenue streams for the schools.

 

Kids currently have unprecedented access to information on ways to lose weight. If they make the "Choice" to lose weight they can, and if they choose to be Fat, so be it.

[IceDragon]

But then that's Crazy talk, because those are easy revenue streams for the schools.

 

wow, at least Jamie Oliver hasnt done away with things like that in America yet!

 

our school now sells bottled water as the only drink avaliable... thank heavens for the corner shop down the road, who are now doing really well because of the ban

[itsme102]

Philly has a weight problem! Can we get that in our schools???

[Twister II]

I bet those pads are gonna' ware down faster than the kids!

[Ccron10]

Everytime I go to the Bowling alley I always go on their DDR. Pending what songs you pick you get a great workout! This could be a weight solution, but could a Wii do almost same thing?

[YoshiFan]

Wow! Is this the best solution the West Virginia school system could come up with? Lets see if you have 1 DDR machine and 300 or so students in a school......I'm sure it will make a hugh impact!

 

They are probably going to use the PS2 versions with the Cobalt Flux pad designed for use in schools and have multiple systems running at once. I think you could get 10 of those setups for a fraction of the price of a new Supernova machine (unless they bought a bootleg Extreme machine off of EBay)

[KrakenKing]

Television: $200

 

CobaltFlux Pads x2: $600

 

PS2: $150

 

DDR Game: $40

 

$990

 

Yeah, you can probably get 20 of these setups for the price of a full machine.

[crazyrider06]

That is crazy but i could see it working.. I love DDR it just too bad i cant play right now cuz of my knee

[coasterman7]

That's cool! I've lost about 15 pounds doing DDR 3 days a week and for 20 minutes.

[Jayjay719]

I want to play DDR to loose a few pounds! But I just had knee surgery and I can't even walk yet lol. I'll work on it!

[Robbie]

We have a couple machines and few of the little ps2 gamepad things at my school and its required for P.E. classes(along with lifting weights for 30 mins a day)

We also play some Wii on certain days

[Golfie]

We're doing a two-week program called C-Motion for the second time next week. The company delivers two cobalt flux mats, 30 practice mats for everyone in the class, a case that contains a PS2 and plasma screen, speakers, and a sound system. The only problem is that the game uses really crappy songs about math and junk. The worst thing I've heard in a song is someone singing about smoking a cuban cigar. (Of course some people laughed like little school children when they heard THAT one!)