Are Active Video Games Useful in Increasing Physical Activity and Addressing Obesity in Children?

Abstract

reached "moderate intensity" and another, only light intensity levels of energy expenditure, but both demonstrated greater energy expended than playing a sedentary video game. This study repeats the findings of many similar studies 2 and now reviews and meta-analyses 3 over the last few years demonstrating a short-term increase in energy expenditure. However, from a public health perspective, is this kind of AVG intervention really likely to produce population-level improvements in the established risks of inactivity and obesity among adolescents?We believe the answer partly lies in the prevalence of the active behaviors, their frequency, and long-term behavioral maintenance. One of the only studies to assess the prevalence of AVG use was a recent cross-sectional study of 1200 adolescents in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 4 This study identified that nearly a quarter of Montreal teenagers reported some active video gaming. Nonetheless, these AVG players were also 4 times as likely to play sedentary video games and much more likely to watch television and use computers at home compared with nongamers. They were also slightly more likely to be overweight and slightly less likely to reach recommended physical activity guidelines, all of which provide data contrary to the "AVG promoting population health" hypothesis.The limitations in the plethora of published active video gaming studies are that their increase in energy expenditure may be transient, study samples are small, and behavioral maintenance outside of AVG play time is not assessed. One would need large-scale studies, objectively monitoring total physical activity (with accelerometers), examining behavioral persistence and maintenance, and examining whether total energy expenditure increased across the day, if any real health benefits are possible for the population of adolescents through active gaming. Nonetheless, the optimistic reports of these potential benefits pervade this literature, despite the fact that boredom and discontinuation of active play are likely to occur over time. 5 For this reason, this field of research needs to be more population focused rather than just repeating the now well-established finding that there is objectively increased energy expenditure during AVG play.

The Impact of Active Video Gaming on Weight in Youth

“…37 This explanation is supported by a 2006 study of the metabolic and physiologic responses to standard video game play in 7-to 10-year-old boys. The findings of this study suggest that video game play as a substitute Clinical Pediatrics for regular physical activity may result in an increased risk of obesity.…”

“…A potential explanation for this is that children are compensating for the acute increase in energy expenditure from active video game play by increasing daily energy intake or decreasing physical activity in other areas. 37 This explanation is supported by a 2006 study of the metabolic and physiologic responses to standard video game play in 7- to 10-year-old boys. The findings of this study suggest that video game play as a substitute for regular physical activity may result in an increased risk of obesity.…”

Exergames in Childhood Obesity Treatment: A Systematic Review

“…Although baseline weight condition of participants was not characterized in all the 7 randomized controlled studies selected, no difference in pre–post intervention weight change between exergaming and no-intervention groups was detected. The authors hypothesized that this was due to compensating behaviors adopted by children involved in active video games, such as increasing daily energy intake or decreasing traditional physical activity, as previously reported [ 30 , 31 ]. This suggests that exergaming may play its beneficial role on body weight by replacing sedentary activities such as watching television rather than substituting real exercise.…”

Evaluation of active video games intensity: Comparison between accelerometer-based predictions and indirect calorimetric measurements

“…The real effect of AVG might actually have been blunt. The question to know whether AVG interventions are able to influence positively the risks factors for obesity is still highly debated [13][14][15]. To avoid any misinterpretation, readers may have to consider that a significant part of the effective MVPA could have been underestimated and misclassified as LPA.…”