Wii Sports is good, but not that good
British Medical Journal experts Lee Graves (postgraduate research student), Gareth Stratton (professor in paediatric exercise science), N D Ridgers (research fellow), and N T Cable (professor in exercise physiology) have collaborated to create a "Comparison of energy expenditure in adolescents when playing new generation and sedentary computer games".
The recent study, aiming to compare the energy expenditure of adolescents when playing sedentary and new generation active computer games, compared four computer games being played by six boys and five girls aged 13-15.
The eleven participants were required to play four computer games for 15 minutes each. Three of the games were active mini games in Nintendo's Wii Sports and the fourth game, Project Gotham Racing 3, on Microsoft's Xbox 360. All participants were fitted with monitoring equipment to measure their energy expenditure.
The results aren't at all surprising. The mean energy expenditure between the four games was found to be:
- Wii Sports bowling (190.6 (22.2) kJ/kg/min)
- Wii Sports tennis (202.5 (31.5) kJ/kg/min)
- Wii Sports boxing (198.1 (33.9) kJ/kg/min)
- Xbox 360 Project Gotham Racing 3 (125.5 (13.7) kJ/kg/min)
As you'd expect, active Wii titles do require the use of more energy than inactive games. All you Wii owners shouldn't celebrate just yet though, as despite the increased use in energy, the study found it still isn't enough and concluded:
"Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute toward the recommended daily amount of exercise in children."
I'm afraid the experts have spoken folks, active games are all well and good but they're no match for the gym. Though saying that, Wii Fit is only around the corner.
Source: bmj.com
