The effects of exergaming on physical activity among inactive children in a physical education classroom

Abstract

Childhood obesity, which is due in part to lack of physical activity, is a serious concern that requires the attention of the behavioral community. Although excessive video game play has been noted in the literature as a contributor to childhood obesity, newer video gaming technology, called exergaming, has been designed to capitalize on the reinforcing effects of video games to increase physical activity in children. This study evaluated the effects of exergaming on physical activity among 4 inactive children in a physical education (PE) classroom. Results showed that exergaming produced substantially more minutes of physical activity and more minutes of opportunity to engage in physical activity than did the standard PE program. In addition, exergaming was socially acceptable to both the students and the PE teacher. Exergaming appears to hold promise as a method for increasing physical activity among inactive children and might be a possible intervention for childhood obesity.

Keywords: childhood obesity; exergaming; physical education; social validity; video games.

Figure 1

Minutes of physical activity (PA) per session for both the regular physical education (PE) and exergaming (E) conditions for each student.

Figure 2

Number of minutes of opportunity to engage in physical activity (OPA) for both the regular physical education (PE) and exergaming (E) conditions for each student.