Researchers in sport science at Liverpool John Moores University in northwestern England have stated that volunteers burned over 60 calories and two percent increase in the amount of energy burned, whilst playing Wii for an hour. The study said that the games are not enough to replace a more traditional exercise routine.
Funded by Nintendo’s marketing arm, the study took six boys and five girls between the ages of 13-15 years to play four different games for 15 minutes each on both the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft Xbox 360. The four games that went on for a duration of 15 minutes include Tennis and Boxing in Wii Sports and Project Gotham Racing 3, played on Microsoft’s more sedentary Xbox 360.
Children had to play games for one hour, after a break of five-minute between sports.
The study, which was carried by British Medical Journal, has concluded that many people get breathless after an hour of intense Wii gaming, but it does not provide enough activity to fight childhood obesity. It fails to count as what is required for a kid’s daily exercise needs.
“The energy used when playing Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children,” said the researcher.
Nintendo offers a number of games on the Wii console system that includes Tennis, Bowling, Ping Pong, Baseball, and so on. The company has also produced a variety of Wii games, enabling a more active form of input.
All the same, the Nintendo Wii is said to be offer more activeness than the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3. It is certain that Wii do make children exercise as they keep themselves up and off their seat and on their feet, but may be not as much as what is ideally required.
