EyeToy for your help in fighting obesity

EyeToy for your help in fighting obesity!

 

Can active computer games like EyeToy help Kiwi kids beat obesity?

 

Hopefully they can, but first we need to find out more about them. To this end, Auckland University is looking for 10 to 14-year-olds to take part in a study looking at whether active computer games can improve kids' long-term health.

 

Early studies have shown that the energy used to play such games is similar to that used to play, say, cricket or cycle, or walk. A pilot study also showed that EyeToy type games led to greater physical activity and less computer game-playing.

 

The new study, which is being funded by the Health Research Council of NZ, wants to look at whether these games can have an ongoing effect on body mass, physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness - heart and lung health - in children.

 

"Three in every ten New Zealand children do little or no physical activity and one third are overweight or obese, with a higher prevalence amongst Maori and Pacific children," says Dr Ralph Maddison of the Clinical Trials Research Unit.

 

Dr Maddison says there's an urgent need to find ways of upping kids' physical activity. Playing computer games is thought to be part of the problem - all that sitting down. But doctors think the new active games, where players interact with images on screen, can help here. Have you ever played the Wii ten-pin bowling game? That can get a sweat up. The doctors like such games, too: they think they might help kids to get their fitness levels up and reduce obesity.

 

So, if you're an active game fan and live in the Auckland area, why not get your mum or dad to contact the eGAME study? For your trouble you'll even get an Eye Toy to make your PlayStation even more fun, and you'll also be helping improve Kiwi kids' fitness.

 

Call Louise Foley at the unit, on 0800 4 egame (34263).

 

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