Wii can't help lazy people
In what may just be one of the more frivolous studies undertaken this year, a University of Mississippi research paper asserts that using a Wii Fit might not actually make you especially fit at all.
UM associate professor of health and exercise science Scott Owens used university funds to buy eight Nintendo Wiis, which he then proceeded to deliver to eight families for use over a six month period. Yes, just eight.
Whilst Owens did apparently find that "children did display significant increases in aerobic fitness after three months with the Wii Fit," overall, "three months of home Wii Fit use produced no significant changes in daily physical activity, muscular fitness, flexibility, balance or body composition for families as a whole." Typical, oldies dragging the family down, tsk.
Owens also found that despite having generously doled out the free consoles, daily Wii Fit use per household "declined by 82 per cent, from 22 minutes per day during the first six weeks to four minutes per day during the second six weeks."
This led Owens to conclude that "the Wii Fit had little impact on daily fitness and that that modest amounts of daily Wii Fit use may have provided insufficient stimulus for fitness changes." Oh, ok, so it was the families' laziness and not the Wii's fault then?
Despite the fact that the survey didn't yield any particularly useful results, the UM School of Applied Sciences remains convinced that buying the consoles with university funds was completely justifiable.
"The school supplied the equipment for the study because it is important faculty research that seeks applied solutions to real-world problems," said Marie Barnard, applied sciences assistant dean.
Riiiiiight.
