‘Exergaming’ helps jump-start sedentary children
By Amy van Aarem, Globe Correspondent | January 10, 2008
Kerin Donnelly of Weymouth was sore the next morning from “snowboarding” for two hours – indoors.
It may not win any fresh air awards, but “exergaming” is a way to mobilize couch-prone video-game players. And with Massachusetts determined to trim its 16 percent adolescent obesity rate, any movement may help.
At a new “interactive fitness arcade” at the Weymouth Club, kids exergame full throttle. From scaling rock walls to gliding through an on-screen half pipe on a snowboard, they boost their heart rates and break a sweat in the virtual world.
Persuading children to exercise can be a challenge for parents, even as some elementary schools cut back on gym classes. Although Colorado, Vermont, and Massachusetts have the lowest overall obesity rates nationally, a recent Johns Hopkins University study predicted that nearly 24 percent of US children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2015.
The exergaming industry, specializing in a fusion of technology-based games and exercise, has focused on the obesity epidemic and the youth market. In exergaming, hand controllers are eliminated and the body is used to power the game.
One of the first exergames was Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), which was released in 1998. Players move their feet forward, back, and side to side on a raised platform while following cues on a video screen. Norway registered the game as a national sport.
The evolution of exergaming began in the 1980s, with companies developing high-end fitness equipment that is primarily used by professional sports teams. Health clubs were reluctant to install the equipment, which is usually bulky and not user-friendly, and the average consumer couldn’t afford it.
But technology has improved, costs have dropped, and exergaming has moved from the arcade to the gym and the living room, making it a viable option for getting kids to exercise.
Some of the most popular exergames include X-Board snowboarding simulator; Cybex’s Cateye Game Bike and Trazer, a virtual simulator that tests reaction time, speed, power, and balance; and Nintendo’s WiiSystem (video games with myriad interactive options from tennis to baseball).
The first interactive fitness arcade in Massachusetts, XRKade, opened in the Weymouth Club last month.
“Although the equipment has been around a long time, XRKade is a new concept; it takes the interactive and gaming equipment and creates an environment around it,” said Lenny Lowenstein, president of Denver-based iTECH Fitness, owner of XRKade systems.
Not everyone wants such games to be a substitute for the real thing. Tory Dolan of Hingham, a certified personal trainer, basketball coach, and mother of three, thinks exergaming has a limited role in fitness.
“If you’re not doing anything at all, then DDR is better than doing nothing. You actually move the most in DDR, in terms of physical exertion,” she said. “But I think kids have to get air and run around and be creative; you’re not making friends when you’re sitting inside playing Wii.”
Lowenstein agrees that Wii may not blast the same calories as DDR.
“Wii is a good warm-up or cool-down type of exergame. You won’t break a sweat like in DDR, but you’ll raise your heart rate.”
In an age of youth sports specialization, in which elite status in a sport can be determined by fourth grade, a lot of kids are left off organized teams. So they retreat to the computer or couch, and sedentary patterns begin.
“Most classes offered at recreation centers or community centers are geared toward girls – dance, spinning, Zumba – they don’t afford much option for boys,” Dolan said. “If they don’t play a winter sport, there’s not much for them to do.”
Dolan wants to create an after-school gym class in which boys and girls would participate in shuttle runs, tag, air guitar contests, and relay races to boost their heart rates while getting a chance to socialize.
The Weymouth Club’s exercise arcade was designed for 8- to 15-year-olds with socializing in mind. “In a traditional fitness club, people like to have the synergy of working out together,” said Lowenstein. “In XRKade everything is set up in pairs; people play against each other. They work harder when they are competing against one another.”
Some similarities to traditional exercise are par for the course with exergaming. Donnelly, 17, of Weymouth, said, “I’m addicted to the snowboarding game. The other day I woke up and my legs were so sore from playing it for two hours the night before.”
On a recent Saturday, about a dozen kids were scattered around the new exercise arcade. Two 8-year-old girls danced on DDR platforms and two children played Wii tennis and Wii baseball next to each other. In the far corner, a 10-year-old kicked and hit punching bags that flashed red at points on the structure, indicating where to strike. A snowboarder navigated the virtual course on screen, bending and twisting as necessary. Although they may not have torched as many calories as they would in a hockey game, the kids were moving, and all appeared to be having a good time.
Amy van Aarem can be reached at amyvanaarem@hotmail.com
