NEWS: Can Video Games Help Kids Lose Weight?

[PhishyBrewer]

This story just aried on our local news. Yes... kids in Sacramento are fat to

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Doctors predict that for the first time there is a generation of Americans with shorter life spans than their parents.

 

But some local college students have stumbled upon a way to get children to lose weight so they can live longer lives, and it takes place inside a video arcade.

 

To many young adults like Adriana Griffin, the idea of sweating it out in a health club gym sounds more like torture than fun. But at the California State University, Sacramento arcade, she and her friends line up to play games that score them on their fancy footwork.

 

"I used to do some sports in high school, like soccer or swimming, and it really didn't do anything. Then I started playing 'In The Groove' (videogame) and 'DDR,' and the pounds just kind of fell off by accident. I didn't really change my eating style. I just lost a lot of weight," Griffin said.

 

Griffin lost 45 pounds to be exact. And that's what health advocates have been hoping to see in young adults and in children.

 

According to health experts, 29 percent of children in Sacramento, 31 percent of children in Stockton and 30 percent of children in Modesto are overweight. That's 50,000 overweight children in the three cities alone. But many of those same children also love videogames.

 

"If they can translate whatever they see in front of a computer, if they can translate it to physical activity or their dining habits, then they will go a long way," Dr. G. Prakasam said.

 

To help slim American families down, one organization -- the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation -- is asking computer and gaming companies to work exercise into more of their games.

 

Game producer RedOctane has already jumped on board with "In The Groove."

 

"Because there's a lot of criticism of videogames now for their content, I personally believe that games that are based on music and fitness and things that are good for the whole family will gain more popularity as years come," said RedOctane representative John Tam.

 

But not everyone is willing to freestyle dance in public. So, RedOctane has developed a home version with levels so easy that an 8-year-old can play it.

 

Gamers and health experts say that the new games are a step in the right direction.

 

Over the past three decades, obesity rates have more than doubled in children age 2 to 5, and tripled in children age 6 to 11.

[Louise]

"Can Video Games Help Kids Lose Weight?"....

 

By "kids", you mean "Wally", right?!

[FlyingScooter]

At my daughters high school, they're considering a DDR Arobics class for after school suff. She said the phys ed teachers are even thinking of putting that into the course.

[Louise]

^ Y'know, if they'd done that when I was at school, I woudl've really enjoyed PE. We got to do maybe two terms (out of five years!) of anything decent, the rest of the time it was long distance running or practising sports skills but never actually playing them.

[shesaidboom]

^^ I completely agree with you. We rarely ever played anything, just practised skills over and over. It would've been nice to put those skills to the test more then once every 2 weeks.

[jackskellington101]

I think it's a great idea as well. Anything to get kids moving. If the digital video game world helps, then more power to it. I still can't imagine it being too receptive from schools, but ya know, if they have Math Blaster, then they can have DDR.

[Jeezus Juice]

Well, that explains Mario's Dance Dance Megamix Wally, now what about that copy of Kareoke Revolution under your pillow?!

 

Yeah, I went there.

 

-=Don

[Louise]

^ Was it under his pillow or stuck to his pillow? :?

[jackskellington101]

^^Don't rag on it to much, it does make sense. You know, Beer, alcohol, possible drunkenness, Karaoke. They all go to together in the great circle of song.

[ebl]

Make the kids unload boxes of them off of the trucks when they arrive at EB Games or wherever they're being delivered.

 

That'll take some weight off!

 

Eric

[PhishyBrewer]

^^Don't rag on it to much, it does make sense. You know, Beer, alcohol, possible drunkenness, Karaoke. They all go to together in the great circle of song.

 

God... do I have a story about that. But if I told you, I'd get banned! :shock:

[Louise]

You can tell the story on YOUR forum though right? I mean, if you can have a boobies thread...