A new line of “exergaming” products for mobile phones and gaming consoles may be motivating an increasingly sedentary generation of children toward better health.
Exergaming, or technology-driven physical activity, emerged around 2005 with video games such as Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution, which required players to jump and dance on an attachable mat with the results shown on screen. As technology advanced, games such as Xbox Kinect began to include cameras and motion sensors so that players could move more freely. Children typically burn between four and seven calories per minute playing such games, according to a report from the Entertainment Software Association. That's slightly more than what they'd burn walking at 3 mph on a treadmill.
