‘Exergaming' puts the fun in fit

Leaping about in front of the telly is a viable form of regular exercise according to the experts, because it makes us happy. Controversial cup finals probably won't count.

Last month we referred you to the growing number of adult females who prefer videogame exercise to cycling or the gym. Today we have news of a report that promotes this trend to our kids. The bottom line is that games inviting full body interaction are much more fun than regular exercise. In the best cases children are getting fitter because they're too busy laughing and joking to even think about it.

Pediatrics online, as reported in the LA Times last weekend, says that activity games "provide as much or more activity than walking at a moderate or intense pace" for our lazybones children. The research was carried out by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and based on a test group of 14 boys and nine girls aged 10-13. Interestingly, the games tested did not include Wii Fit, but the less taxing Wii Sports (bowling and boxing) plus Konami's long-serving Dance Dance Revolution boogie-thon. The latter was put through its paces on two difficulty settings, and the results compared to having kids work a treadmill on various speeds.

Experts at Oklahoma Health Sciences Center also discovered that kids burn fewer calories while flopping around doing nothing. Hold that Nobel prize.

Crucially, especially where encouraging kids to get moving, the report suggests that the entertainment factor in "exergaming" (good one) is a major contributor. Then the report suggests that exergaming "could be incorporated into more structured exercise programs as a complement to activities such as walking and cycling." And thereby loses its grip on the stealth-like possibilities so cleverly identified.

So there you have it, parents. You don't need a Nintendo Wii to get the kids into shape; you need only find yourself a copy of Dance Dance Revolution - available for all consoles including numerous editions for PlayStation 2 and one for iPhone. However if you do own a Wii, don't forget that Wii Sports Resort, sequel to the Wii Sports game bundled with every Wii console, is available from this Friday.

Jumpy-around videogames then - the solution to our children's ills?