Study examines effectiveness of active video games for improving health, fitness

A multidisciplinary team from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Universitat de València, Universitat Jaume I, University General Hospital from Valencia and the  Biomedical Research Network Centre on Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn) is developing a study on the effectiveness of active video games in children and teenagers (know as "exergaming platforms") for exercising and improving their health and fitness.

The study is led by Empar Lurbe, Chief of the Paediatrics Service from the University General Hospital from València. It brings together engineers, paediatricians, cardiologists and psychologists. Its objective is to obtain information on energy waste, cardiovascular and cognitive responses of children in a session of exergaming and compare the results with the "conventional" exercise. It also analyzes the children's motivation, interest and sense of effort before each kind of exercise.

So far, the study has involved 70 children: 30 obese children treated at the Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk Unit from the Paediatrics Service from the University General Hospital in València, and other 40 children with normal weight who participated in the last edition of the Summer School at the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia.

The findings show that, if they can decide, obese children prefer to make sport through active games better than with the traditional ones. This is due to the fact that they feel more satisfaction when they play and do not have any sense of effort. This impacts on their motivation and will to keep on playing sports.

It has also been shown that virtual scenarios reduce the child's sense of effort during exercise. Furthermore, he or she is more amused and feels capable of finishing the program. In fact, all children to whom participation has been offered have accepted and all of them have finished the program.

Thus, new technologies can be seen in clinical practice as an ally to personalize physical exercise in order to obtain the maximum benefits. "This is one more step in the multidisciplinary approach to childhood obesity that we are carrying out", says Empar Lurbe.

Therefore, it is interesting to develop a strategy that combines traditional exercises with new technologies to stimulate the obese child to achieve his o her daily goals.

According to experts, obesity in children and adolescents is an outstanding and growing problem. "If we do not change the trend, we will be the first generation in history where children have less life expectancy than their parents, and that is due to the increase in obesity," adds Lurbe.

The World Health Organisation recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, and in children and adolescents they add another 20 minutes of vigorous activity three days a week. However, Cristina Botella, Director of the Psychology and Technology Laboratory (LabPsiTec) from the Universitat Jaume I and the Universitat de València, states that "the reality is that children are becoming more sedentary and spend more time watching television and playing with video games. This attraction of children and adolescents for video games and new technologies is what gives meaning to their value as a possible therapeutic measure".

Currently, only a small number of games make the child perform a moderate-intensity physical activity. Besides, amongst the disparity of results obtained so far, there are few studies that attempt to assess the different effects of exergaming on obese children.

"We need more high-quality studies and controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of exergaming, as well as its potential interest as a clinical tool. Our goal is to study the effectiveness of new technologies for the execution and promotion of physical activity in children, and also the variability in physical effort and emotional response in children with a normal weight versus obese children", explains Mariano Alcaraz, Director of LabHuman-I3BH from the Universitat Politècnica de València.

Tests

Researchers have developed a work plan, validated by doctors and physiotherapists, which includes a brief questionnaire and sedentary activities ­—children watch a video first and then play sitting with the console. Besides, more aerobic activities are compared in exergaming platforms: dancing on a special mat, playing tennis and boxing virtually, versus a common aerobic activity such as walking, that they perform on a treadmill.

During the tests, performed at the Physiology of Exercise Laboratory at the General Hospital, children are equipped with a biomedical shirt developed by the company Nuubo and the Bioelectronics Group from I3BH Institute at UPV, which measures in real time the cardiac activity and the movement that they make.

The child is also monitored with an indirect calorimetry device which measures his o her metabolic response (respiratory rate, oxygen consumption), a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen flowing through the blood and the heart rate, and a pedometer to count the steps that the kids make in each of the exercises.  

In addition to these measures, the child answers a series of questionnaires aimed at assessing the reasons against the implementation of physical activity before the test and their degree of satisfaction after each one of the exercises which compose it.

SOURCE Universitat Jaume I