Tam Fry on Childhood Obesity at the Interactive Fitness and Exergame Seminar

Consequences of Inactive Life for Children

Last month saw the first seminar from the Interactive Fitness and Exergame Network from LinkedIn at LIW. It goes to show that collaboration on the web can lead to real action, and there's more than enough passionate and dedicated professionals in this group to make something happen.

Although the focus of exergaming may be on video games, the real purpose of exergaming is to improve health. Child Growth Foundation and National Obesity Forum chair, Tam Fry, spoke at this seminar to illustrate the problem and the consequences for children.

Mr Fry warned the delegates that the "Childhood population looking at a very unhealthy and uncertain future" and outlined some of the evidence.

"From the University of Newcastle the figures are just 3 in a 100 children are doing the recommended 1 hour of exercise a day. Only 1 in 5 parents know how much exercise children should be taking. After 10 years of messages we have failed to get though to parents in a understandable way exactly what their children should be doing."

The message that activity is being ingored also leads to dire consequences, as Tam exaplained:

"One third of children not doing enough exercise to the level of risking coronary heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes. The only way back for some children is to cut them open at fit a gastric band. This should always be the third option, but is increasingly becoming the second or even the first option."

Mr Fry offered some explaination as to why the population is in such trouble, with two areas for improvement for government policy.

"Over the last 20 years parks have been sold off, allowed to run down or become total no-go areas. From the National Obesity Forum, we have a clear idea that video games which encourage activity are very important and we're fully behind it. But, to have not then opportunity for people to go out and be active is a pity. Children love to play, you should give them the space, if necessary supervise to a degree."

School PE is seen as very important in providing a front line service against childhood obesity, and it was suggested that PE techers should be on the frontline when it comes to monitoring child weight as well as physical education development. That would only be if there still were PE classes and PE teachers.

"25% of children coming into school going into primary school at the aged 4 are overweight or obese. Perhaps the biggest problem is what is not happening. What is not happening in school is that physical activity has been allowed to disappear."

The talk greatly informed the seminar and put into perspective the importance of what the group is doing and what success in the interactive fitness and exergaming sector means, not in monetary terms, but in human terms.

The majority of the presentations from the group that were included in the seminar can be found at the slideshare event http://www.slideshare.net/event/interactive-fitness-and-exergame-seminar

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Exergaming Makes Me Sick

Exergaming suffering from "video gaming revulsion"

Last year I presented Gamercize to a group representing the Trust that has a lot to do with Youth Sport (of which we are members). The chairwoman of this organisation is highly respected and even holds an MBE (that’s the honour below the widely recognised British OBE). After watching a short TV clip from BBC East Midlands as part of the presentation, that showed kids using video games for exercise, she could hardly contain herself.

It was not the fact that we’d happily engaged 97% of the kids in moderate to intense levels of activity (while traditional PE here is littered with sick notes and missing kit) that meant she lost composure; it was, in contrast, a negative response. “Seeing those kids playing video games in PE makes me feel sick!” she retorted, and the only question she asked in the whole presentation was “are those DVDs?” while pointing to a stack of kids PS2 games.

Needless to say she was in the minority of 1, as the closer the delegates were to implementation or kids, the more fired up and keen they were. The trend to the positive from government and organisations like this Trust are far more encouraging. Responses like these, starting with the Chief Medical Officers annual report, published this week, illustrate the tides of change for exergaming acceptance:

"My concern over the growing obesity ‘time bomb’ facing this country is well known, and the East Midlands is looking at the possibility of using interactive computer games to help obese children lose weight. Initial results look promising, and this could prove to be one of the ways of engaging overweight children in exercise." Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health.

"Gamercize is unique, innovative and exciting. Our Youth Fitness Academy and Playscheme Kids have found the concept fun, interactive and competitive." Jon Randall, Facility Manager, Southampton (Chamberlayne) Leisure Centre

"This test encouraged children to be more active, and that’s a great starting point. I know as a dad that the reason why video games are so popular is because they are so good, and kids will not leave them. It’s better to be smart and work with the games, making children more active in the process." Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern and associate specialist University Hospital Nottingham

"This is a very interesting result – it opens up a possible way of getting children more active." Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum

"Physical inactivity in children is a major cause of the obesity epidemic, and Gamercize provides an innovative solution, reducing sedentary behaviour, whilst maintaining enjoyment, making it a popular and appealing remedy. This study begins to show that by providing more novel opportunities, it is possible to increase a child's activity in a painless and effective way." Dr David Haslam, Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum

"Ideally children should be running around fields and expending energy naturally, but a lot of children are unable to do this so active gaming brings about energy balance. The key to all this is that children must have fun and the value of Gamercize is that children have a great time using it." Tam Fry, National Obesity Forum's board member for children and the Honorary Chairman of the Child Growth Foundation

“I first saw Gamercize at a schools trial, where a class of 31 children were exercising on steppers and cycles playing PlayStation2. Out of all the equipment at the trial, boys and girls were asked to vote for a favourite. Gamercize was the clear winner, proving twice as popular as a second placed game racing bike. From a schools perspective, the flexibility of Gamercize to be used with more than one player provides a required social aspect to physical education. The ability to choose any game is also very useful, and helps maintain interest over time and engage all children.” Helen Ley, Sports Development Manager, Sport Hampshire & IOW

"We are committed to increasing opportunities and access for active participation amongst young people in the City. This innovative approach in partnership with Southampton Football Club and Gamercize is an initiative that compliments Active Southampton challenge of getting the people of Southampton active 30 minutes a day." Jayne Ludden, Sport and Recreation Services Manager, Southampton City Council

"This is a great British invention that could begin to bridge the gap between exercise levels of both adults and children today and what they should be doing. It makes it realistic to achieve an hour’s exercise in a lunch time if you’re stuck in the office and likewise for children who would rather stay inside playing games." Brigid Simmonds OBE, Business in Sport and Leisure CEO, who also worked on the Foresight Obesity Report

“Gamercize is a brilliant way to engage with pupils who my not be currently active within school sport. It gives a new opportunity to pupils allowing them to win in competitions individually and as a team, plus, have a fun social aspect that can incorporate even the unlikeliest of teachers! The great thing about Gamercize is that pupils do not even realise they are active gaming and come off the machines sweating with heavy breathing. Gamercize came to one of my schools for a pilot demonstration and it was great to know that over the course of the day pupils stepped a huge amount that equated to jogging all the way from Derby to Liverpool City Centre”. Phil Basterfield, Competition Manager, Derbyshire Sport

I'm happy to leave the last word with the expert majority... case closed!

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Health Experts Back Video Games

Exercise makes video games acceptable.

A research study has been completed to determine the free choice in activity of children aged between 7 and 11 yrs, when given three activity stations:

• Traditional games with no physical activity
• Gamercize stepper and cycle fitness machines on PlayStation 2
• Traditional stepper and cycle fitness machines with no gaming

Given free choice the children were 6 times more likely to engage in physical activity with Gamercize over traditional fitness equipment and they burned nearly 28 times more calories with Gamercize than playing sedentary games.

Here's what the health experts said after reviewing the findings.

“This test encouraged children to be more active, and that’s a great starting point. I know as a dad that the reason why video games are so popular is because they are so good, and kids will not leave them. It’s better to be smart and work with the games, making children more active in the process.”
Dr Ian Campbell, Medical Director of Weight Concern and Associate Specialist University Hospital Nottingham

“This is a very interesting result – it opens up a possible way of getting children more active.”
Dr Colin Waine, Chairman of the National Obesity Forum

“My feelings are mainly supportive, looking at the study, and the products at face value as a means of increasing physical activity in novel and attractive ways. Childhood obesity is, obviously, a major problem, and conventional methods of tackling it have failed miserably, so congratulations for thinking of an innovative new way.”
Dr David Haslam, Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum

The study results show the effectiveness of Gamercize and the power of using video games for health. Ultimately the kids win out by keeping active and having fun.

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Forced Gaming for Health Officials

Gamercize at the Health of the Nation Conference.

Last week we went to the premier government and health association conference, Heath of the Nation '08. The list of attendees was just as impressive as the speakers who included;

Tam Fry (AM Chair) - Honorary Chairman, Child Growth Foundation
Dr David Haslam (PM Chair) - Clinical Director, National Obesity Forum
Sir Liam Donaldson - Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health
Dr Will Cavendish - Director of Health and Wellbeing, Department of Health
Dr Susan Jebb - Head of Nutrition and Health Research, Medical Research Council
Sam Mellor - Head of Healthy Schools Programme, Department of Health/Department for Children, Schools & Families

The conference speakers had a great deal of information, but there were a few light hearted moments; The Foresight Policy Systems Roadmap was a laughable schematic trying to assign responsibility in the government's obesity strategy - it was a complete mess of a spider's web that I could have replaced with a single slide - EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE.

The second amusing moment was when one sharp witted delegate pointed out the irony of a health conference sponsored by a chocolate company. Well, these companies have the money and a degree of responsibility. You often see health initiatives sponsored by fast food giants, it's better than no initiative at all.

We were there both as delegates and exhibitors and this is the feedback we got while forcing government health officials onto Gamercize equipment to play Forza 2 or FIFA '08.

1. PCT and PDM representatives and were very pleased that Gamercize does not enforce a specific level of physical activity and that health professionals would have control over the exertion themselves. They also saw Gamercize as the solution for the most sedentary children to socially participate equally with more sporty kids.

2. Local authority school representatives shared a very useful fact with me. Children in some areas, particularly girls, do not engage in organized physical activity because they are not comfortable with the kit they have to wear. They saw Gamercize as a less strict activity for track suits instead of shorts - which has proved excellent in increasing children's engagement levels.

3. NHS, DCMS and NHS representatives all focused on the ability to play any game with Gamercize, not just racing games and not just games designed to be used with exercise. They saw this a protection against Gamercize being a "fad" and appreciated the value of the equipment in this respect.

4. Almost all representatives very much liked the the lower cost PS2 Gamercize, with the attraction of the cheaper games (£5-10) but youth leaders far preferred the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Gamercize because of the extra appeal to adolescents.

5. From the few SSP Competition Managers that attended, we have some more schools signed up for the next international exergaming tournament, to be held in October!!

It was a great event for us, we got to speak to a huge number of people that really can make a difference to the nation's health and the exchange of ideas was incredible. Needless to say, everyone loved the Gamercize concept and it wasn't long before we had the huge crowds I've come to expect when kids and parents discover Gamercize.

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