Keep fit with the Nintendo Wii
12 Jul 2007 10:25
The stereotypical image of a gamer is not one of a healthy, happy individual. More likely, it is of a pale, insular type of person who spends hours indoors with the curtains drawn playing on their favourite console.But could this all be about to change? According to new research, playing on the Nintendo Wii console can be just as good at burning calories as more traditional forms of exercise like walking.
Dr Alasdair Thin from the University of Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh has done a study which suggests that a 30 minute stint playing a game using the consoles interactive Wiimote can be as beneficial to your body as a 60 minute stroll.
A group of sixteen volunteers took part in the study, and had their heart rates and oxygen and calorie consumption measured while they played new generation games on the Wii. During the 36 minute period each volunteer was found to have burned around 300 calories.
Commenting on his findings, Dr Thin told the Metro: "As excessive video game playing is so often blamed for increased childhood obesity, our research reveals some very positive results for bodymovement controlled gaming."
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