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. (more…)

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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. (more…)

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Do video games make you fat? Well, no more than watching television or surfing the Internet makes you fat—in moderation. The problem with video games, as with the other two activities, is that too few young people do them in moderation. The truth is you won’t become fat simply eating, as long as it’s done in moderation. Again, people tend to have a problem with this.

The latest hubbub is over some comments made by the McDonald’s UK CEO in which he lays part of the blame of the obesity epidemic at the feet of video games. The upsetting (to gamers) comments were:

“I don’t know who is to blame,” Mr Easterbrook says. “The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there’s no denial about that, but if you break it down I think there’s an education piece: how can we better communicate to individuals the importance of a balanced diet and taking care of themselves? Then there’s a lifestyle element: there’s fewer green spaces and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV when in the past they’d have been burning off energy outside.”

(more…)

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