Researchers at the University of Buffalo have found there is at least some evidence of a link between playing video games and being fat. This may not come as startling news to some, but it is a rather important finding from a scientific study. The bigger news is that they think they may have a solution, and luckily for geeks it involves another box you plug into your TV!
The study measured the body mass index (BMI) of 70 boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 7. Each had a BMI that reached 75 percentile or higher for their age group and gender. The families of the children were given TV Allowance devices which measure individual family viewing of television through the use of personal access code. Each child watched television or played video games at least 14 hours a week prior to the study.
Some homes were simply monitored, while others had their television allowance reduced by ten percent each week until they were only allowed to watch half as much television as at the start. Families who used the devices saw a reduction of 17.5 hours a week in video device use. The children also saw a significant drop in BMI over the two year study. Also fascinating was that children who simply had their video device time monitored, though not regulated, also saw a drop of five hours per week.
It’s fairly common sense that if parents want their kids to lose weight they need to get them out of in front of video devices (this would include computers). Still, having the actual studies to back this logic up is reassuring to those trying to slim down American kids. With most console makers now building time monitoring devices of some kind into their systems, this trend is only likely to spread to other electronic devices.
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