Use The Ninentdo Wii To Keep Fit

The question of whether the Nintendo Wii can help us keep fit is on the minds of many parents these days.  After all, how many of us recall when the first Atari game console came out?  How about the first Nintendo?

My brother and I spent hours in front of the television playing Mario Brothers.  If you’ve bought your kids a game console, how much do they play?  With obesity rates among children soaring many like to blame television, but research suggests that video games may be more responsible for this trend than television.  We haven’t bought a game console yet, but our kids are clamoring for one, and I can’t really blame them.  I wanted one at that age, too.  But as a parent, I don’t want to encourage unhealthy habits.

Can The Wii Keep You Fit?

We’re considering getting a Nintendo Wii.  There is ample evidence to suggest that what has come to be known as “casual gaming” has changed the landscape of the video game industry.  The Wii has garnered appeal from an audience that has traditionally shunned video games, and a bevy of studies over the last few years from medical institutions as prestigious as the Mayo Clinic have suggested that adding activity to gaming helps fight obesity.  A more recent study shows that adding a movement component to gaming can burn up to four times the number of calories, as well as significantly increase the heart rate of players, relative to seated gaming.  Of course, playing a simulated game is not as beneficial as actually doing the activity, as evidenced by a study published in 2007 in the British Medical Journal, and summarized here.  I think we can safely say that “active gaming” is an improvement over traditional, seated gaming, but nowhere as beneficial as getting outside to play.

Another question I have about adding a console like the Wii to our house is whether our kids may believe that if they are great tennis players on the Wii, then they must be great tennis players in real life.  I’ve watched a few teenagers who have never held a tennis racquet pick up a Wii controller and convince themselves they could take on Roger Federer.  I don’t think any of us would want our kids to humiliate themselves that way.  It’s a question I’ve heard other parents ask, and a commentary on NPR summarized that concern quite nicely.

A few months back, I took my family to visit an old friend.  They had a gaming console set up and my wife and kids played Dance, Dance Revolution.  My wife usually couldn’t care less about video games, but she had a blast playing that game, and the kids enjoyed it just as much.  And by the time they were done, they all needed showers.  I guess that’s the acid test.  If we can find something that the kids enjoy playing, but gets me, something too, then it’s a win-win.

Besides, I might just want to take on Roger Federer someday too…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!