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Impact of an active video game on healthy children's physical activity
Baranowski, Tom Abdelsamad, Dina Baranowski, Janice O'Connor, Teresia Thompson, Debbe Barnett, Anthony Cerin, Ester Chen, Tzu-An
Baranowski, Tom
Abdelsamad, Dina
Baranowski, Janice
O'Connor, Teresia
Thompson, Debbe
Barnett, Anthony
Cerin, Ester
Chen, Tzu-An
Abstract
Objective: This naturalistic study tests whether children receiving a new (to them) active video game spontaneously engage in more physical activity than those receiving an inactive video game, and whether the effect would be greater among children in unsafe neighborhoods, who might not be allowed to play outside. Methods: Participants were children 9 to 12 years of age, with a BMI > 50th percentile, but < 99th percentile; none of these children a medical condition that would preclude physical activity or playing video games. A randomized clinical trial assigned children to receiving 2 active or 2 inactive video games, the peripherals necessary to run the games, and a Wii console. Physical activity was monitored by using accelerometers for 5 weeks over the course of a 13-week experiment. Neighborhood safety was assessed with a 12 item validated questionnaire. Results: There was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general, or at anytime, than children receiving the inactive video games. The outcomes were not moderated by parent perceived neighborhood safety, child BMI z score, or other demographic characteristics. Conclusions: These results provide no reason to believe that simply acquiring an active video game under naturalistic circumstances provides a public health benefit to children.
Keywords
Date
2012
Type
Journal article
Journal
Pediatrics
Book
Volume
129
Issue
3
Page Range
636-642
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
File Access
Controlled