Last month I told you about the research that shows exercise video games – like Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution – can significantly boost kids’ activity levels. Now there’s another study that says children who play the latest physically challenging video games burn calories at levels that might help protect them from becoming overweight and improve their heart health at the same time.
The report – in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine – shows children burn about four times as many calories per minute playing a physically active video game than playing a seated game. Their heart rate is also much higher.
My kids love to race against each other in the WiiFit 2 person running race. So fun to watch, and they really do get a good 20 min of running out of it before they finally get bored of it. I think it will be great for the cold winters here when we’re more house bound.