I firmly believe that children are made to run like little Energizer bunnies until they crash within the first 5 miles in the car or as soon as you manage to get them to lie their little heads on their pillow. However, I think that we, as adults, do our best to temper this energy rather than let it run unbridled.
I know my 5 year old would willingly race me to every neck crack in the sidewalk if he had his way. He is also interested in moving and would trade the chance to go to a “bouncy” place or park over just about anything else. (the trampoline places will have to wait awhile until he gets over his recent leg fracture…) But, just like the norm in society today, he does love video games.
Ever since the advent of the active gaming units like the Wii and now the Move and Kinex, the question has been raised about whether this will have an impact on our childrens’ increasing waist to hip ratios..
This particular study looked at changes in body composition over 6 months in 10-14 year olds when these types of game systems were used. The changes were not Earth shattering, but certainly any improvement is a good one.
The bottom line is that these types of game systems will never replace active play, but may be a small part of the puzzle when combined with healthy diets to maintain ideal body compositions in our children.