& # 39; exergames & # 39; can improve health in obese children: Study



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Video games, in combination with fitness coaching and a tracker, helped overweight kids lose weight, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and increase their physical activity. Said Amanda Staiano of Louisiana State University in the United States.

"They can also fight every day against asthma, sleep apnea and other psychological and health problems that can lead to overweight and obesity" said Staiano, senior investigator of the study published in the journal Pediatric Obesity. children at increased risk of developing serious medical problems. Exergaming, or playing video games that require physical activity, can be helpful.

"Screens are everywhere in our lives, and they are here to stay. Kids spend half of their waking hours in front of screens," Staiano said.

"I'm looking for ways to use these screens – smartphones, computers, TVs and tablets – to incorporate more physical activity into kids' lives," she said.

The study included 46 children aged 10 to 12 years. were overweight or had obesity. Half were girls and more than half were African-Americans

The study randomly badigned children to a "play" group of 23 families or a control group of 23 families

. 60 minutes a day of physical activity.

The children received an Xbox 360, Kinect and four exergames and were invited to play at home with a friend or family member for six months.

challenge book "to complete three one-hour play sessions each week and a Fitbit to track their steps each day.

Every child and parent or parent engaged in regular video conversations on the console. video game with fitness coach Pennington Biomedical to monitor their progress

The control group members were not asked to make any changes in their behavior.These families received the exergames and the game console at the end of the six-month study.

Twenty-two of the 23 families in the playgroup completed the six-month program.The children and parents of the playgroup completed 94% of the play sessions and attended 93% of chat sessions.

"When you do not interfere with overweight children," Unfortunately, we were not surprised to see that children in the control group have increased their arterial tension she and their cholesterol levels and decreased their physical activity over the six-month period, "she said. Children in the playgroup reduced their body mbad index by about 3% while the control group increased their BMI by 1%.

They also reduced their cholesterol by seven percentiles while the control group increased cholesterol by seven percentiles. In other words, the children in the playgroup remained healthy.

(This story was not edited by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)

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