The Cause of Obesity

It should come as no shock that there is an obesity crisis. We hear it in the news every now and again, but what's the problem. A few more fat people? It's actually quite a serious issue.

For an individual take a look at this graphic

(source : https://www.ldh.nhs.uk/obesity_01.htm)

For the population that's not overweight of obese (congratulations!) there is still a serious issue

(source : http://www.getamericafit.org/statistics-obesity-in-america.html)

What this means is fit or fat, you're affected by obesity, either in your health or your wealth.

This is an outcry I hear you say. I'd agree. There is no mistake that I have cited UK and USA sources above, obesity is a global epidemic - a pandemic. So what are our individual countries doing to fix this for us?

The the UK we have the Change4Life campaign. Eat less, move more! Great. In the USA we have Healthy People and latterly supplemented with Let's Move! In Canada there's of course Active Healthy Kids Canada. Everything's ok now we have these great quasi-government organisations fighting for our health?

Not quite. All of these organisations have a common flaw. They do not adapt, they do not learn, they do not get disbanded if they are ineffective.

First on the block for the chop is Healthy Active Kids Canada.

"Since the formation of the Active Healthy Kids Canada in 1994, according to "Obesity in Canada - Snapshot" published by the Public Health Agency of Canada, the levels of obesity have grown from just over 20% to nearly 25%."

Next up Healthy People 2010

 "Since the inception of Healthy People 2010 in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the states in America that have an obesity prevalence of 30% grew from zero states in 2000 to 12 states in 2010".

What about Change4Life?

"Since the creation of the Change4Life campaign in 2009, according to the National Health Service commissioned statistics via ONS, the percentage of overweight or obese children had grown from 17% reported in 2009 to 30%"

Why if the obesity problem is recognized and agencies have been set up to combat the problem is it still getting worse? Costing us our health and our wealth? The answer is a lack of knowledge about the population they are trying to help. Technology is becoming increasingly more important in work and leisure for the modern western individual and these agencies are still touting the "go play outside" message for increasing physical activity. All of them have dismissed exergaming as part of the solution.

Exergaming is dismissed because a few studies in Nintendo Wii have failed to produce the illusive 60 minutes of MVPA (Moderate to Vigourous Physical Activity, basically, being out of puff) that most governments recommend. Equally, most people get bored of Wii Sports and go play Mario Kart instead. The lack in understanding of exergaming, and the natural aversion to technology, causes the obesity agencies to make a fatal (that'l be fatal you you, not them) mistake and provide incorrect guidance. So what if exergaming ticked the boxes for sustainability, for MVPA?

Contrary to stereotypical or ignorant belief, exergames can. At least, Gamercize can. If you only ever read one piece of research this decade, make it this one. Exergaming MVPA, sustainability and of course comparison against the dreaded Wii.

(source : http://exergaming.pbworks.com/w/file/61482197/BHF%20Exergaming%20Poster.pdf)

So what causes obesity? Ignorance. Or to be blunt - the ignorance of the agencies set up to combat the situation. We know exergaming works, see above, but the agencies deny this. I would rather suggest honest stupidity over a desire to worsen the crisis in order to justify the expansion the respective agencies budgets. Well, maybe I might just hint at that.

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Gamercize in Hong Kong

Gamercize has Global Appeal

This week saw Gamercize featured in a TV show in Hong Kong as an intervention for a case of a sedentary lifestyle. The experience of HKU was explained as "wow factor". See the video below.



Videos and content to keep you up to date with Gamercize are available on our Facebook page here. Hope you Like it! 

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Are video games sport?

Health Promotion in the Golden Decade of Sport

When you watch sport on TV how would you choose to participate, join a local club or go buy the video game?

This presentation explains what the Golden Decade of Sport means, and how it relates to increased physical activity and healthy lives. If video games steal the show, how can this be of benefit to health promotion? Find out more...

Health Promotion in the Golden Decade of Sport

View more presentations from Richard Coshott.

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The Missing 9th Protocol

Making Change4Life really N.E.A.T.

There are 8 core messages in the Change4Life campaign, and sometimes they are described poorly, in targeting video gaming over the real bad screen time of TV watching where snacking is the sting in the tail.

The core messages are good, however, and they are (in the order chosen by the Change4Life campaign:

1. Sugar Swaps - Basic advice to go for the low calorie option
2. 5 a Day - Sensible stuff, a balanced diet including 5 fruit or veg a day.
3. Meal Time - Hardest to implement, make a regular time for healthy meals.
4. Snack Check - 2 Snax Max, and try to turn one junk snack into a healthy one.
5. Me Sized Meals - This is a good one, make sure meal sizes are appropriate for kids.
6. Cut Back Fat - Simple advice like grill don't fry, all sound basic advice.
7. 60 Active Minutes - Moderate to vigorous physical activity! Get some exercise!
8. Up and About - Limit screen time to 2 hours per day (What about active gaming!!!!!?)

They look pretty sensible on the whole, but there's one missing... and it's a big one. While there is one message promoting explicit exercise there is no message to choose to be more active, no matter how much energy you expend. What we are missing is:

9. Just Keep Moving

This is so easy and so less daunting than 60 Active Minutes, and it follows the concepts of "Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis". That basically means just keep moving, but it's an important concept that's easier to build into modern life than going to play in the park 365 days a year every evening.

An easy example of N.E.A.T. is to leave you TV remote by the TV instead of on the sofa. If you change channel, get up, move! If you're channel hopping, stay stood up. There's lots of ways you can be NEAT with your life, just think about all the time you are stationary for hours on end. In the office, get up, go speak will a colleague in the same room instead of sending an email!

Change4Life needs to be promoting this message - for most people in modern lives going for an hour of exercise a day is just not sustainable, but a low level of effort most of the time does make a difference and leads to more energy and ability to tackle the hard hour-a-day workout.

Here's a little more on NEAT if you're stuck for ideas:

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