Video Games Help Kids Shed Pounds
Active video games can help kids lose weight, researchers say. In a 16-week study of 75 overweight or obese 8- to 12-year-old children enrolled in family-based weight loss programs at YMCAs and schools, half were given video games that engage players in physical activity. By the study’s end, active video gamers were getting eight extra minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity daily and had lost 5.4 percent more of their body weight than kids following only the weight loss program.
Source: JAMA Pediatrics, published online March 3, 2014