Playing video games isn't about sitting on the couch

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 16, 2007 | by Gieson CachoSTAFF

DANIEL Jaramillo stands like an aerobics instructor in front of 40 fourth-graders, arguing over what game level to play.

"Break a sweat?" he asks before selecting a stage.

"No," they answer, though they've been dancing for at least 15 minutes.

The exercise has gone this way: Jamarillo picks a song in a video game called "Dance Dance Revolution." He stands on a dance pad, and as the level begins, he tries to move in time with the arrows that whisk their way down a projection screen behind him. The class follows Jaramillo's lead and tries to keep up on their pads. They shuffle about, madly missing a few steps.

When the song's finished, some of the kids are out of breath.

Again, Jaramillo asks if they've perspired. The children refuse to admit anything. They want to go faster. Jaramillo responds, picking a level with a thumping techno beat.

The Cesar Chavez Elementary School students cheer.

For them, video games usually mean sitting down and thumbing their way through a shooter, virtual soccer or "Smackdown! vs. Raw 2006," but instead, they're at the Moscone Center in San Francisco dancing around and enjoying it. They were taking part in the recent International Health, Racquet and Sportclub Association's trade show (IHRSA) and convention.

At a time when childhood obesity is in the headlines and critics are blaming everything from television to fast food for the problem, video games have not gone unnoticed.

A 2004 study by the University of Texas at Austin said that overweight kids were more likely to play video games moderately. Researchers checked the body mass index of more than 2,800 kids while recording their activities. Another 2004 report in Obesity Research associated gaming to overweight kids in Switzerland. In that study, researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University Hospital of Zurich measured the health of over 800 elementary school-aged students and calculated their relative activity.

"A lot of children aren't getting enough exercise," says Michael Levy, the chairman of IHRSA, a trade group for the health and fitness industry. "Nine million children are obese."

But what titles such as "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Wii Sports" are trying to do is change that couch potato image of players.

"This is a video game for kids who need physical education but don't like sports," said Marc Franklin, a spokesman for Konami, the company that makes "DDR."

The game as a fitness device has attracted the interest of West Virginia officials who have installed the title in all of their public schools, he said. An accompanying study found that children who consistently played the game improved their health.

"The fitness level of kids increased," says Franklin. "It stopped kids from gaining weight and improved their self-confidence."

Even adults can lose weight playing video games. Blogger Mickey DeLorenzo caused a stir online last year with his Wii Sports Experiment Web site (wiinintendo.net). After getting the console, he spent six weeks playing the packed-in title for 30 minutes a day, trying to keep to the same schedule, and he lost nine pounds.

"Finding out that it worked was a complete shock," he said. "I kept track of my weight three times a day, I would write it down in a journal. I had figured maybe 2 to 4 pounds, but when I finished calculating and saw 9 pounds, I knew this was going to be a big deal."

During his personal study, he found Wii boxing burned the most calories (125 in a 15-minute period) followed by tennis (92) and bowling (77).

DeLorenzo says that he believes "Wii Sports" can have an affect on childhood obesity.

"If a kid is playing Wii Sports instead of watching TV, of course they'll be burning calories," he stated via e-mail. "Will it stop childhood obesity? Probably not on a global scale, but, like I said, in certain cases, it will replace nonactive activities with active ones and that's better than nothing."

Josh Trout, a Cal State Chico professor in the kinesiology department, hears stories like DeLorenzo's often. But despite the personal anecdotes, he says there haven't been many scientific studies on gaming and weight loss.

Still, without much research, he says that "exergaming" has been gaining momentum in the educational field.

"Every year I see a few more booths dealing with exergaming," Trout says. "I think P.E. programs are buying into it because it sells. Kids buy into it. My guess is that Nintendo Wii will be squeaking its way into P.E. curriculum. As long as kids are getting their heart rate up, it's a good thing."

For fourth-grade teacher Geri Almanza, there's a practical reason for having "DDR" in her classroom and students' homes. As one of the staff members watching the Cesar Chavez elementary students, she couldn't help but play the game herself.

Almanza is familiar with "DDR." She's played it before in the arcades in Mexico City. And now, dancing with her students, she sees plenty of ways in which the game can help them. It can be used for rainy days or afternoons when it's too hot outside, she says.