Sure, the stereotype is of the fat kid alone in his parents’ basement playing video games, but a new study says that may not be accurate. Well, at least it says the kid may not be quite so fat, quite so fast. West Virginia University researchers are claiming Dance Dance Revolution can at least slow weight gain in kids.

West Virginia’s pilot program was to install Dance Dance Revolution into every state middle school. But did it actually help? Researchers wanted to know, so they monitored 35 overweight children between the ages of 7 and 12. What they found was that kids who played Dance Dance Revolution on a nightly basis only gained 2 pounds during the 24 week study. That compares to kids who did not play and gained 5.3 pounds.

That may sound like a minor victory, but consider that it was also done with kids during some of their peak growth years. Also consider that no other changes were made in the kids’ lifestyles. No dietary changes or additional exercise were added. When viewed from this perspective, it certainly joins with other recent reports of the health benefits of physically involving games. Still, the clear message is that like with any fad diet, video games should only be a part of a bigger personal diet plan.