Video games: the Wii is not a substitute for sports

January 21, 2008 – Wii Video Console fans, don’t hang up your skates, skis or bicycle! According to a small British clinical trial, the “sports” activities offered on the Wii are far from providing the benefits attributable to real physical exercise.

Yes to the Wii
This video game console has enjoyed great popularity since its release in 2006. It stands out for its ability to detect the position, orientation and movements of the controller in space. This feature therefore allows the player, standing in front of his screen, to imitate, joystick in hand, the movements of a tennis or golf player, for example.

According to this study, Wii enthusiasts barely burned more calories than those playing regular video games. According to the results, the energy expenditure of the participants (11 young people aged 13 to 15 years) was 2% higher among Wii users compared to those who play seated video games. This energy expenditure is equivalent to 60 calories per hour of play, or the equivalent of what a youngster weighing 45 kilos would spend walking 20 minutes at an average pace. However, the study’s authors recognize that games like the Wii have the advantage of making users active and, by extension, could help them maintain a healthy weight.

These findings are significantly more moderate than those presented by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in 2006. According to their result, “active” video games increased energy expenditure by 40%, compared to conventional games, in the 25 children. ages 8 to 13 who participated in the study. This increase was even more important with the game Dance Dance Revolution, that is to say 68% more. The researchers even concluded that such games might be able to prevent and treat childhood obesity.

If, in all likelihood, we must continue studies on the real benefits of these new video games, it seems however that they have caused a very real problem: the appearance of “Wiitis” (tendonitis caused by the intensive use of the Wii ). The term was coined by the D^r Julio Bonis in an article published in June 2007, in the New England Journal of Medicine. In short, before starting your game of tennis or jumping into the ring, it is therefore recommended to warm up.

Claudia Morissette – HealthPassport.net

Graves L, Stratton G et al. Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games: cross sectional study; British Medical Journal, 2007 Dec 22, vol.335, n ° 7633. P. 1282-4.
2 Lanningham-Foster L, Jensen VG et al. Energy Expenditure of Sedentary Screen Time Compared With Active Screen Time for Children, Pediatrics Flight. 118 No. 6 December 2006, pp. e1831-e1835.