health lab by dr. joel
THE HealtH BENEfITS
of Video Games?
I always buy myself a Christmas present, usually sometime in January when I
know how well my bank account survived the holidays. This year, it’s already
bought and unwrapped.
I decided months ago that I wanted a Wii. After hunting for a few weeks, I de-
cided I would never find one and gave up. Last month, while looking for earbuds
for my MP3 player, I saw one. I called the saleswoman over:
“Is that a Wii?”
“ Ye s .”
“Like an honest to God, in stock, I could leave the store with it now, Wii?
“Ummmm…yes, sir”. By “sir” she clearly meant “crazy person”. “Do you want to buy
it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need anything else to go with it?”
Already we had exceeded my actual knowledge of the Wii world. “Do I?”
She stared at me a little while and handed me “Dance, Dance, Revolution (DDR).”
I think it was in response to my Human Rights Campaign T-Shirt. Any plans I had
of keeping it in the closet until Christmas were dashed during my post-election
party/therapy session. It was still hooked up, dance pad and all, when my parents
visited that week. My mom was intrigued – she had been thinking of getting one
for my nieces, since she had heard it was a good way to keep kids in shape.
Video games have traditionally been the villain in tales of childhood obesity, so
I decided to look into this. Also, if DDR could get me to the clubs with moves AND
thin, I needed to know.
It turns out this is quite the hot topic lately. Parents and doctors haven’t had
much luck getting kids to jog or bike instead of playing video games, so they’ve
been checking out the possibility that new video games, with more physical
activity, could help slow the epidemic of childhood obesity.
Studies have included a number of gaming systems, including X-Box, Play-
Station, and Wii and a variety of games, most of them sports. The results are
somewhat encouraging. A study published in the journal Pediatrics showed that
children playing active video games used twice as much energy as those play-
ing traditional games. Another study showed that their heart rates reach levels
consistent with more traditional forms of exercise.
It’s not yet clear that this translates into a health benefit for “gamers.” While
agreeing that active games require more energy, another study showed that it’s
not enough to count toward the recommended amount of exercise. It’s also too
soon to say if these games can really lead to weight loss—or if newly svelte DDR
experts have better luck at Rich’s.
These games are also being tried in physical therapy, with some success. Com-
pared to other therapy instruments, they can increase interest and save money in
younger patients, and may provide a lower impact option for older patients. As
one article says, “You’re never too old for a Wii.”
More information is on the way. If Konami didn’t have health and fitness in mind
when they designed DDR, they do now. Newer versions of the game have a coun-
ter to keep track of the calories you’ve burned, and some come with temporary
fitness club memberships. Expect similar additions to sports games, as well as
an increase in required activity. Don’t be shocked if the next version of baseball
requires that you run the bases.
If it does, run them carefully. Increased activity can bring increased risk, and
gamers are already finding themselves on the disabled list. Mixed in with the All in all, an active gaming system is probably not as good as traditional exercise,
studies on fitness are reports of injuries related to active gaming. They range from but it’s better than games that leave you sitting on the couch. As a Christmas pres-
the mundane (pulled muscles) to the bizarre (blood filled lung cavity). “Wii knee” ent, it’s seems unlikely to cause lead poisoning or break into edible parts, so Mom
is common enough that a quick search returns hits in both medical journals and and I will probably be going halfsies on one for my nieces. As long as their parents
the blogosphere, though it hasn’t hit Wikipedia yet. Believe it or not, you may give us the okay—and I can find another one. In the meantime, I’ll alternate DDR
need to stretch or put on your brace before you power up. with my elliptical, and see you on the dance floor after the holidays.
80 RAGE monthly | DECEMBER 2008
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