Interactive Video Games Offer Exercise Benefits - Payoff was Especially Evident with Seniors, Researchers Say

Couch potatoes beware: If you start playing a new generation of video games that require users to get up and move around, you may find yourself getting a bit more fit. New research suggests that several exercise-based Nintendo Wii video games provide health benefits, in one case equal to that of light jogging. And seniors in Florida managed to raise their heart rates by playing a video-game version of bowling. Many managed to have a good time and even engage in some ‘trash talk’ about who was better, the researchers said. Exercise-via-video-game might not replace the value of traditional methods of getting fit, said Elizabeth DiRico, an exercise physiologist who studied college students who played Wii athletic games. Still, ‘if you have an unfit individual, this would be a good way to transition them from being a couch potato into moving more,’ she said. Players may find the games more fun and stimulating than other forms of exercise, DiRico said. But the games should be seen as the beginning of an exercise program, not the end point, she said.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/06/05/interactive-video-games-offer-exercise-benefits.html