losing calories

When 11-year-old Matthew Garcia of Lancaster, California, wants to get some exercise, he bypasses the two bicycles in his garage and heads to the Antelope Valley Family YMCA for one of his favourite workouts — an electronic game with light-up targets and a scoreboard that tests his throwing, catching and speed skills. At home, he jumps on the Wii Fit alone or with his mother.

When he's working out, he has one thing on his mind and it's not his heart rate: "I always think about how much fun I'm having."

Children and teens who have grown up practically attached to computers like the games. But do they provide much by way of exercise? Many do, say researchers. According to two recent studies, some of these so-called exergames can make players huff and puff enough to offer a serious calorie burn. The findings offer an important alternative strategy for parents, schools and others who care for children as they try to get their charges off the couch and moving.

A different way

"Previously we've focused on sports as a way to get children physically active," but not all of them are interested in organised sports, said Bruce Bailey, assistant professor of exercise science at Brigham Young University and lead author of one of the studies. Schools, are making their PE classes more inclusive to children of different interests and "this is one way of doing it".

Active games entered the scene in the early 2000s with now-classics such as Dance Dance Revolution. Today, the offerings are more sophisticated, more challenging and have more realistic video effects. They are featured on major consumer-gaming platforms, including the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Besides, many schools, gyms, community centres and hospitals include stationary bikes with video screens and customisable programs; digital target games that challenge players on speed and motor skills as they throw a ball; and sports simulation games that allow users to feel as if they're playing games such as soccer. Some cost as much as $6,000 (Dh22,040).

Burn it

Here's how the calorie burns fell out in the two recent studies. In Bailey's study, released in the journal Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 39 boys and girls, average age 11, played six commercial and consumer games, including Dance Dance Revolution, Sportwall and Wii Boxing. In four out of the six games, the children burnt more calories than they did while walking on a treadmill at a three-mph pace.

In the second study, published online recently in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, scientists targeted an older demographic — 18- to 35-year-olds — and found that dance simulation and fitness video games allowed players to burn many more calories than they would have by sitting on the couch — 298 per cent more for the dance simulation games and 322 per cent for the fitness video games. But shooter and band simulation games (such as Medal of Honour: Airborne and Rock Band 2) didn't provide much exercise at all.

In other words, not all exergames are created equal — and that's why exercise physiologists emphasise that they shouldn't be the only form of exercise a child gets.

More than just wrist action

Parents should do some research before bringing an exergame home, to make sure it offers more than wrist action, Bailey said. As for how much and how often the games should be used, that depends on the child. "I don't think they should replace sports. But it's good if you can use it to replace a sedentary activity or if they don't have an affinity to be active," Bailey said.

Exergames became part of the PE curriculum at Sierra Vista Junior High in Canyon Country in 2003, when George Velarde, department chairman, updated the school's philosophy about gym. He added an exergaming room to the school's fitness centre, complete with 16 Dance Dance Revolution games and 16 virtual reality bikes. "The kids don't even know they're working out," Velarde said. "But they are working out even more at moderate to vigorous levels because of exergaming."

Julie Garcia couldn't be happier that her son loves using the exergames at home. "Anything that gets him moving is good," she said.