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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Exergaming: Preaching to the Converted

Reaching the "Hard to Reach" through Social Media

Photo by ExergameLab http://exergamelab.org

The concepts of obesity, physical activity and health are globally recognized and linked. Ideas and questions are shared within social media without international boundaries and eagerly expanded or answers suggested. Video gaming is also a global concept, with worldwide release dates for premium games and global communities of online players. Stories around these topics tend to cause a social media "buzz".

Exergaming is an innovative bridge from video gaming to health, that has been demonstrated in almost every country, but exergaming is not intrinsically a social media buzz-category. Why is that? It could be the approach exergaming stories should be shared needs to be different to take into account the relative infancy of the proven exergaming concept.Over recent months I have seen the success and acceptance of exergaming in social media though what was once called "cross-posting".

Cross-posting is a term that was used in bulletin boards and news groups of the old Web 1.0 and involves repeating information in different areas. Given the amount of social media available to be consumed via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sources, this practice is useful today in order to reach the intended audience. In fact I intend to "cross-post" this blog post! When a story is posted there is the opportunity for readers to interact for example by "liking" or "retweeting" - a comparative measure for cross posts..

Judging the reaction by the number of "likes and comments" on exergaming cross-posts this year it is apparent that only "preaching to the converted" is working! There are very few reactions to exergaming stories in PE and physical activity forums, but plenty in exergaming circles. The most effective social circle for reaching audience is clearly The Exergame Network. The only other notable forum for exergaming is Games for Health. Both The Exergame Network (TEN) and the Games for Health organization, with its US and European factions and related Games for Health Journal, are global organizations.

There are two conclusions that can be drawn from my recent observations. Firstly, there are simply not enough knowledgeable or passionate individuals in the field of exergaming (at the moment) to sustain a buzz in anything less than a global forum. National and regional scope simply does not reach the tipping point to build momentum. I have seen individuals go it alone, and the only outcome being they fall out of the flock of exergamers!

Lastly I am concluding that approaching exergaming like it has the social kudos of gaming or fitness is the wrong approach. For exergaming "Preaching to the Converted" is all that really works. How should the approach change then? Increase those that are converted! Invite PE and physical activity advocates into The Exergame Network and Games for Health spaces, so they can consume exergaming stories, ask questions and make suggestions is a positive collaboration instead of a skeptical minority.

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Study: Xbox is better exercise than Wii

Active Gaming Proved To Keep Kids Interested

Two major criticisms of using active gaming for physical activity are the lack of exercise compared to traditional activity and the expectation that kids easily get fed up with the new way of moving.

Two linked studies in the United Kingdom have tackled these issues head-on by trialling active gaming in a free-play environment. Two schools in the Midlands undertook a medium term study using popular active games compared against free play in the playground.

The effort that the kids expended was converted into “steps” to make the results comparable between the playground and the video games. The initial study, over six weeks used Nintendo Wii Sports active play compared with the baseline of traditional play. The results showed that in week one the Wii was king of the calories, keeping kids 25% more active than the playground.

After the first week, the criticisms of boredom and poor exercise appeared well founded, as Wii exercise floundered to a poor 65% of traditional activity. The study was then repeated, this time using Xbox and Gamercize Power Steppers. The results, unexpectedly, turned the thinking about the shortcomings of active gaming on its head.

For the second data collection, the kids had to keep moving on the Gamercize steppers to power their controllers and play the game, which would pause if they stopped moving. Normal video games are compatible with Gamercize and games such as Lego Star Wars and FIFA were used.

The Gamercize results were similar to Nintendo’s results for week one, reflecting the kids excitement of “something new”. What happened next was unexpected. Rather than the initial interest tailing off like it did with Wii, the combination of Xbox and Gamercize kept the kids playing, engaged and active throughout the entire study period.

The Wii data supported the loss of interest and lack of exercise critisims of active gaming, but Gamercize for Xbox did not suffer a lack of interest over time or a drop in physical activity. What can we conclude from this? As a physical activity intervention, Gamercize uses the attraction of videogames to keep the kids engaged and the patented Gamercize approach of minimal interaction kept the kids active the whole time.

Results of the Gamercize study have been presented at the European Child Obesity Group. Reference: Duncan, M. J., Birch, S., Woodfield, L., Hankey, J. (2010) An evaluation of a 5-week, school-based, exergaming intervention using the Gamercize power stepper on body mass index and physical activity during school lunch breaks in British primary school children. Proceedings of the 20th Annual Workshop of the European Child Obesity Group, Nov 17-20th, Brussels, Belgium.

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Active Gaming For Fitness and Learning - Video

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Is there a Ninja in your Exergame?

Active Gaming without the Game?

The defining attribute of Exergaming or Active Gaming is..? (did you spot the clue in the question!)

That's right - THE GAME!! It's the bit that takes your mind off exercising and makes the active experience actually enjoyable. The key interaction is to make the exercise disappear - stealth exercise if you like. Maybe even the interaction is so stealthy it could be the Ninja in your exergame!

The great advantage of exergaming, and Gamercize in particular, is the end result of burning calories and being active. How this magic works is not really important - that it does is important!

Over analysing exergame products is not a task for the inexperienced or flippant, so if you really want to see the nuts and bolts, go to The Exergame Network (TEN) and see how they break it down.

The results of a product or service are far more important than the intricate detail. You don't need to understand how an auto mechanic fixes your car, just that it's running again! Physical Education has an opportunity to get out of semantics and roll out results with the new initiative from the US government - Let's Move campaign.

I hope that exergaming is taken seriously as an intervention for PE and the initiative to reclaim activity for the people. There is support in many areas, not just Ninjas, as you can see on the RWJF forum on Physical Activity in School.

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Exertion Games

Exergaming's exercise component.

I believe that the effectiveness of exergames is not down to the calorie burn per hour alone, but a combination of physical exertion and sustainability through video game play. Recently a spectator of the exergaming field brought up the question of exertion, in isolation from practical experience, and highlighted the need for exergames to create physical exertion.

Although I don't advocate choosing an exergame based solely on physical exertion, but none the less, this is a chart pulled directly from the Gamercize website. Which ever way you approach exergaming, Gamercize always comes out on top.
As you can see from the chart Gamercize has the top spot, but a chart only tells half the story. See this video from independent film makers VideoJug for a better picture of the four top home exergaming options here.

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Why be fit?

Think about the possibilities!

We hear the negative side of being unfit a lot. Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, problems with joints and bones, benign intracranial hypertension, gall bladder disease and even cancer are linked with being very much overweight. It's very difficult to lose weight if you don't have some level of cardio fitness. I don't think these are the reasons that should be in your mind when you set up for a workout.

Try looking on the positive side, of all the things that will be more enjoyable from being fit. Also think about the things you can't do now that you will be able to do when you've reached your goals. Here's some ideas for you. I don't think these are the reasons that should be in your mind when you set up for a workout.

Being fit makes life more fun and with Gamercize getting fit is fun too.

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Government Health Campaign Uses a New Strategy Against Obesity

Video games are the cause, but where is the exergaming response?

About a year ago I wrote about £235 million of taxpayers money that looked like it had very little to offer the modern day society. The misconception that led to this mistake was down to the fact the government doesn't know it's Xbox from it's Wii.

Now the government is spending on an awareness campaign that uses video games as an example of how not to be healthy. The commercial does not give the obvious alternative of Gamercize and exergaming as the better choices in play. Raising just the problem without the direct solution is not helpful at all.

In fact if you take a look at the commercial here:

you will notice how similar the message is to this more practical Gamercize information video (released a few months prior) that supports the concepts having exercise as an integral part of work and play:

The real irony in this government message is that private sponsors of the campaign include fizzy drink, unhealthy snack food and chocolate companies! Maybe this is why the government advert doesn't show Coca-cola, Mars, Nestle, Cadbury, Kellogg's, Kraft or PepsiCo type products?

See how many of those products you can't spot in the government's TV commercial.

This conflict of interest isn't lost on everyone, quoting this news report, Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum and the Child Growth Foundation, calls them out:

"We fervently hope that Change4Life will succeed where
other department campaigns have failed.

Our optimism will be tempered until we see whether the food, advertising and fitness industries really do deliver the promised goods. We are tempted to think that the former two are donating millions of pounds to Government as a way of heading it off from imposing the regulation it fears.

Legislation on the way food is processed and advertised should have come in two years ago."

It is at this point that the campaign starts to lose credibility and fails as an intervention, by being controlled by spin doctors instead of medical doctors, directed by PR executives instead of research experts.

Despite the problems, conflict of interests and lack of practical advice, Change4Life is a sign of progress in the government's understanding of the modern lifestyle. Maybe next year this understanding will have caught up some more and exergaming will be on the table as a suggestion of activity.

For now, we follow the government advice - which play more Frisbee in the (presumably new) park! Great fun during the summer but consider it gets dark late afternoon at this time of year. Night Frisbee in the sub zero temperatures just doesn't do it for me - I'm off to play the PS3 with Gamercize, see you online!

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2009 : Health, Fitness and Video Game Industry Predictions

12 Months of change for active gaming!

I keep a close eye on the fitness industry, the video game industry and an even closer eye on the emerging exergame industry. To create and run a company like Gamercize forward thinking is a must, but the worst aspect of being ahead of the game is there are very few people on the same page! Luckily those few are great people to share ideas and discuss exergaming.

For those that follow exergaming, I've put these predictions together to give up the head start. For those that have followed Gamercize and try or are trying to recreate our ideas, there's an added bonus of where we're going next. These ideas have come from my intuition, experience and of course, insider knowledge! Just to throw in a curve ball there's also one or two I have made up just for fun. Naturally you will have to decide which these are, and which are linked.


Prediction 1: During 2009 Gamercize products will beat Wii-Fit in global month-on-month sales.
Typically a video game has a usable life of 2 months, a really good one longer with social or online gaming. Gamercize supports all games, including online ones and those yet to be released giving it longevity, which is why sales keep on going up. For Wii-Fit, that has no social aspect, the advertising will die out in favour of Wii Music or other new titles leaving sales as popular as a 2005 EA Sports game.




Prediction 2: By the end of 2009 Gamercize online tournaments will be watched on network TV.
We held the first online exergaming tournament this year and, despite the small scale of the event, broke new ground for live TV. While video game tournaments are typically hosted locally, we ran ours online between two locations in different countries 8,000 miles apart. We also added exercise for the first time to a previously sedentary video game with a huge global following, namely FIFA soccer.


Prediction 3: In 2009 researchers will prove exergaming is sustainable and increases traditional physical activity.
The previous levels of research have focused on cardio output leaving the success stories to news items, of varying credibility. I predict three key papers for 2009 that will catapult the researchers into international news and define benchmarks against which all products will be measured.

Prediction 4: Throughout 2009 a flood of truly awful exergames will be released.
I have already seen some fundamentally flawed exergaming products arrive, that either fail to deliver either quality physical activity or engaging game play, or sometimes neither. Most of these have fallen by the wayside. Entirely driven by profit ambitions, the length of time these products are promoted will depend on the level of investment, and at least one company will cease trading after being sued for breach of patent.


Prediction 5: In early 2009 home fitness sales will boom and traditional gyms adopt exergaming as a result.
The credit crunch will reduce spending on traditional physical activities and seriously reduce new gym memberships in January. Health aware consumers will turn to home fitness equipment in order to keep fit, but will be far more selective in the capabilities and turn to exergaming products. Seeing the uptake of exergaming in the home, traditional gyms will adopt and promote exergaming in order to keep up with the small number of existing interactive gyms.

Prediction 6: By the end of 2009 obesity levels will have fallen for exergaming equipped schools.
Funding from governments will be dispersed at local level into exergaming solutions by increasingly tech-savvy physical education teachers and school officials. The average age of a video game player will have risen to 40, supporting the technology revolution at decision making ages.


Prediction 7: In 2009 a fast food chain will sponsor and promote an exergaming product.
In an effort to educate consumers to the "calorific energy equation in weight control" and to deflect disproportionate attention from health commentators, one chain will adopt exergaming. Unlike previous attempts by the food industry to support sporting events and teams, this move will be accepted by the public at large.


Prediction 8: By the end of 2009 exergaming products will benefit from subsidy or tax breaks.
Signalling the end of central government inaction with the exergaming industry, several key research papers and public support of exergaming will lead to at least one government to provide financial incentives for exergame products. This move will be balanced against predicted reduction in health care costs or poll winning public support.


Prediction 9: Starting in 2009 video games reviews will include ratings for use with Gamercize.
Video game reviewers, suffering from a squeeze in their own disposable income for gym memberships, will use Gamercize equipment for reviews to keep fit while they work. This will lead to a value judgement of how suited each game title is for use with Gamercize equipment. Ratings will begin to appear and include recommendation on cycle or step variants of Gamercize for each title.


Prediction 10: Throughout 2009 health organisations will promote exergaming as an intervention.
Through measured success in schools and backed by new research, exergaming will be proven as the most effective time constrained method of delivering physical activity. National health organisations will begin to rate and categorise exergaming products.

Prediction 11: During 2009 corporations will adopt exergaming and benefit from carbon offsetting.
Following on from the studies this year, proving weight loss and increased concentration from low levels of continual exercise over prolonged durations, companies get exergaming. A comparison of carbon footprints between travel involved physical activity and exergaming will also provide corporations with a carbon credit for offsetting as a bonus.

Prediction 12: During the early part of 2009, a Mr Barack Obama will become the next president of the United States.

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97% of Teens are Potential Exergamers

Video games provide the next generation in fitness!

A survey of video game behaviour was carried out for 12-17 year olds in the US, and reports the following.

• 97% Are gamers.
  


• 65% Are social gamers.
  


• 80% Play five or more game types.

I'm pleased to see the emphasis on the positive aspects of video gaming. The almost universal appeal of gaming is a prefect foundation for exergames, it shows that if the fitness industry want to connect with teens then these games are the right level you can do it!

I've been connecting on this level as the core principle of Gamercize and these figures are a prefect confirmation we have it right, well 97% right! We are 100% right on supporting Xbox 360, PLayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii though, just so we can be perfect on something!

Notice that kids do not stick with one video game type, let alone a single title. As an exergame a single genre or a single title will not cut it. I've been advocating this with Gamercize supporting every type of inactive video game, and I'm 80% right here, our survey says.

Other exergaming options, that only support one console, or only one type of video game obviously can't get to the 97% we can, but none the less, the figures are great news for the industry. The only slight issue being while 99.99% of teenagers know about games consoles, the number who know about the exergame industry (as a whole, not just Wii Fit!) is probably less than 5%.

It's also interesting to draw on my experience too, before taking the potential market to 97% - I have found it's not just kids who want to lose weight, nor kids that want to excel in sport that take to exergaming. Almost every teen who has tried Gamercize for themselves loves the idea of being active, they just don't need a reason and that's probably just as well - getting a straight answer out of a teenager is never easy!

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Wii Fit - What are People Doing Wrong?

Nintendo, We Have a Problem!

Today one of my colleagues was in conversation with a national newspaper journalist when the inevitable comparison between Gamercize and Wii Fit came up. This in itself is not surprising, because Gamercize is based on cardiovascular fitness machines, and Wii Fit has "Fit" in the name (and herein lies part of the problem).

Nintendo has been great news for Gamercize. We love you guys! You have raised awareness of the possibility of using video games to keep fit. Without the good intentions of the Wii, I doubt Gamercize would be in so many homes, schools, offices and gyms across the world.

I'm fully aware of the customer comments from Gamercize customers, and I feel pretty good about how we are changing peoples lives for the better. I thought it was worth looking out for Wii Fit success stories, just to boost the exergaming feel good factor!

I searched for blogs that had "Wii Fit" and "Day 1" or "Diary"; when the results came back, I am sorry to say, I was in for a shock and there is a sad story to tell; Wii Fit is not working. People are actually getting worse in fitness terms or gaining weight or seeing their BMI go up, not down. So much for feeling good about exergaming!

A lot of blogs have Day 1, up to Day 4 or so and then a week of no posts before changing the subject and having posts about other things. Only one blog I have read has a success story, but that was only due to the extra exercise being done outdoors and with swimming.

I was in a very good mood, but these stories are thoroughly depressing, so I gave up looking for any more. The ramifications for exergaming of such a high profile failure are very bad. But Wii Fit includes plenty of exercise ideas, so what is the problem or what are people doing wrong?

What my colleague had said in conversation earlier came back to me:

"With Gamercize your mind is 100% in the game, and the exercise is automatic - only becoming noticeable if you stop, which pauses the game. With Wii Fit the game is 100% exercise, it's just not sustainable and its just too easy to get bored or distracted."

That's OK for Gamercize, we know that when the next big title is released, the hours of gameplay go up and the weight comes off. Not so good for Wii Fit though. 100% Exercise as an approach which falls into the same category as the unused exercise bike in the bedroom, the rower in the garage or the weights at the back of the wardrobe.

I think the 100% exercise approach explains the diaries that start off with good intentions, only to be replaced with Mario Kart Wii or any other great game titles. One blogger explained that because Mario Kart was in the Wii when it was turned on there wasn't much point in changing discs!

However, it does not explain the people trying for weeks and getting nowhere with Wii Fit. I think the problem is the hype before release making people believe they can eat what they like, never exercise again (apart from using Wii Fit) and magically they will loose weight and become overnight sports stars.

Don't forget that Nintendo officials and even the game designer say Wii Fit will not get you fit. Wii Fit adverts on TV warn that weight loss is only possible with a calorie controlled diet. Advice from designer Shigeru Miyamoto encourages people to track their health and fitness and use this knowledge for a more healthy and active lifestyle.

I would also add that weighing oneself every day is not a good idea. You should only do this once every two weeks or so as weight varies naturally over this time period. Wii Fit is not a single one step fix, give it time. If you are not motivated then try one of the other exergaming options that actually involves popular video game titles.

I hope that what has been achieved with exergaming so far is not damaged beyond repair with Wii Fit. I do hope Wii Fit is properly understood, used by the people it was intended for and generates the (health) success it deserves. A respected medical expert view echoes this post:

Dr. Goutham Rao, clinical director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, says of Wii Fit
"One of my bigger concerns is that it teaches that physical activity is not a part of your everyday routine," he said. "I can't see children sustaining this for very long. At best it will be a novelty for a few hours or a few days, even."

I would love to hear your stories about your own personal health benefits of Wii Fit. If you have sustained use for four weeks or more and noticed the difference to your life, not just your BMI, then post a comment and help us out here!

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£235m Government Strategy with a Fundamental Flaw

Money wasted on play areas while kids play indoors.

The British government has announced spending of £235m on 3,500 new play areas for the community, but has no plan on how to get kids off the playstation and into the parks. There are two parks near me, I have never noticed kids playing there. Sure the territory gets claimed by gangs of teenagers later in the evening, but I guess this wont help reverse the childhood obesity crisis.

I took these pictures at around 7pm today, the weather being great for being outdoors, but can you see any children in the pictures using the facilities? No, there are no kids using the play areas. So why do we need more areas when the ones we have are not being used? So my small survey was not scientific but neither is the governments plan based on anything substantial. The plan (now the descision has been made) is to ask kids and parents what they want in these areas. Xbox 360 may be top of the wish list!
The reason children are not playing outside is it because games consoles are more fun and less effort. Kids would rather play video games than go outside. No amount of new play areas will change that. I have seen this first hand with my own children, and that is where the idea of Gamercize came from. The addition of physical effort to gaming with Gamercize has naturally reduced their hours spent on the playstation and given them increased confidence and an appetite for outside play.

The only problem I found is that when the kids decided they wanted to play outside our existing play facilities were poorly maintained. My children and I went to the park to play basketball, only to find the court covered in broken beer bottles. Even after sweeping the area, small shards of glass got picked up by the ball and we all ended up with cuts.

Since then I have bought a basketball hoop for the garden and that’s a far better option. The government needs to understand this experience. Spend the money on getting the current facilities maintained and formulate a plan to get the existing play areas used. When the current play areas are being used and there is demand for more; that is the right time to build more.

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XRTZ approach to healthy kids

Greetings! Thanks to Richard for the invitation to post in his blog. I wanted to take a few minutes to discuss how we're using exergaming to impact the lives of families at the XRtainment Zone (www.xrtainmentzone.com).

Coming from a healthcare background and having worked with obesity in the clinical setting for the last 14 years, we do not shy away from addressing the problem head-on.

The XRTZ is more of a family fitness and wellness center that uses exergaming as it's main attraction and interventional tool, rather than an elaborate video game place that hopes to get kids moving enough to get them to be fit on the sly. While we bank on this form of "stealth exercise", we are much more up front about our ulterior motives at the Zone! (Every member has the option of getting a full health and fitness assessment done, for example.) We have basically blended my medical group's health education with the

exergaming gym.

One of our key differences from most of the other exergaming gyms and businesses currently out there is our focus on the whole family, and not just the kids.

Anyone who works in the healthcare side of obesity, especially pediatric obesity,

knows that to really impact the weight and health of a child, you have to include the WHOLE family, especially the parents, since they are the main decision makers on what foods to buy, where to eat, what activities to do, etc. To a lesser extent, we also focus on the siblings because it makes it easier for the overweight sibling to do the healthy thing if the parents AND siblings are doing it as well.

Bottom line, you have to institute a whole family lifestyle change if you're going to see an improvement in the overweight child's health.

This is why we are one of the few, if only ones, who has an insurance contract where this particular insurance company will cover the cost of our 7-week Family Fit class and up to 4 months of post-class membership for continued follow-up at the Zone for kids who are at or above the 95th%-tile BMI.

Finally, exercise is only part of the solution for really making a difference in the health of kids. Nutrition is a vital component to their success, so we have incorporated a demonstration kitchen in our multipurpose room where we focus on nutrition education and interaction in just about all of our programs. This way, we can

impact both their physical and nutritional aspect of their lifestyles.

Pediatric obesity was said to be our "greatest national security threat" by the former US Surgeon General Richard Carmon (2006, ACSM Annual Meeting). We at the XRtainment Zone are doing our part in fighting this epidemic. We are working on having more Zones all over the country and the world, since this, unfortunately, is not just a US problem anymore. We encourage others to join us in this fight, and utilize this incredible technology of video games to help us help our future: our kids.

Erne Medina, Jr., DrPH, CHFI

CEO/Co-founder, XRtainment Zone LLC

CEE "Chief Exergaming Evangelist"

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Government Spending £372m on Anti-Obesity Strategy

Active Southampton Shows the Way

Olympic and Commonwealth medallists Peter Waterfield and Iwan Thomas are joined by BBC's Roger Johnson to promote today's launch of the city's initiative to get Southampton active.

On the same day the government announces plans for "anti-obesity" spending of £372 million,including £30m to be spent in creating several healthy towns.

Southampton could already be a healthy town, with all the clubs, sport, indoor and outdoor opportunities to be active there should be no excuses. Yet Active Southampton chair, Jayne Ludden, announces "45% of Southampton adults lead a sedentary lifestyle".

The government, in its latest strategy, is planning to use £75m for just advertising and awareness. Getting the message across to be active is clearly going to be the biggest challenge for the Active Southampton partnership too.

To address this the partnership has appointed ambassadors and also plans to be a one-stop-shop on where and how to be active. At the launch today, Young Ambassadors said the aim is to "inspire and engage both young and old to be more active".

Having met many focused and dedicated individuals from the launch event, I would say that the initiative has every chance of succeeding. As Southampton is the home town of Gamercize - providing the technology for fitness and motivation to all, from office workers to school children - we will be getting involved to help out too.

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BBC Gains Balance

Life Balance of Exercise and Eating

I criticised an anonymous article from the BBC earlier this month for being unbalanced and sensationalist. Now, I am very pleased to see the bias properly addressed.

Health reporter, Clare Murphy, has written a far better article, obviously from careful research and a clear understanding of issues surrounding obesity. Included are these centrepiece quotes which help outline the misconception that weight is linking only to what you eat:

But ironically, despite the fact that today's children no longer see crisps as a treat, the older generation probably consumed more fat.

The 1950s child also took more exercise, and the balance between food and energy expenditure is a key one.

So perhaps we can stop blaming food for lack of fitness and weight issues, and now look at both sides of the equation; Eating and exercise need to be balanced.

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BBC Survey Misses the Mark

BBC Ignores Department of Health Advice.

The article on the BBC website today quite rightly points out obesity is on the rise across the world. BMI graphs from many countries has led the BBC to bend the question of obesity, leading with junk food as the cause. Some people see through the simplistic view in the BBC's fully moderated forum.

The BBC decides to take marketing research to promote an article that contains no story at all. It is a pity the publicly funded BBC does not spend these public monies on programming. Public money has already been spent on research that goes deeper into the issues. The advice from the Department of Health says calorific food intake has not increased in 30 years.

The expert health website goes on to say

Although the rise in obesity cannot be attributed to any single factor, it is the imbalance between energy in (through the food choices we make) and energy out (mainly through physical activity), which is the root cause.

Advancement in technology has given us all the excuse to get our entertainment without putting in physical effort. The freely available statistics from the USA show youth obesity follows video game play. Game time certainly eats into time previously spent outside being active, because it is more enjoyable, convenient and less effort.

So what has risen over the last 30 years? Obesity? - yes, eating more? - no, video game entertainment? - yes. Look at the evidence and do the math.

Despite been very disappointed by the BBC for missing an opportunity with the article, I am at least encouraged to see fitness technology showing the way forwards. Seeing Gamercize help show people that exercise can be fun is a real bonus. That is just the start, a more active outlook gives the motivation and ability to take up many more healthy past times.

Why the BBC cannot report on positive aspects of obesity is not surprising, bad news is more popular. Why the BBC cannot report bad news without sensationalist bias is very surprising.

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Exercise for Free

Play Outside or Go Running to Keep Fit

All kids should play outdoors and all adults should going running for five mile runs at lunchtimes to keep fit for free. I've heard this a few times in discussions within the context of fitness technology such as Gamercize.

Obesity has been rising steadily over the last twenty years across the world. All that time kids just needed to play outside and adults needed to go jogging to prevent the rise? There lies the fundamental flaw; twenty years of world wide experience shows that while the option is available, outdoor exercise is not working. Trying to force people outside is wrong, blaming parents is short-sighted and ignoring the changes and pressures of 21st century lifestyles is plain ignorant.

Outdoor exercise does work just fine for keeping kids and adults fit and healthy, but for many individuals there is not enough time, security, motivation or the experience is just downright unpleasant. Entertainment is now easily accessible through sedentary technology, video games consoles, computers and the Internet, all without the need to head outside and be active. Add fitness to this entertainment and you have the principles behind Gamercize; the 21st century way towards reclaiming the enjoyment of being active.

Those that still maintain everyone, regardless of personal circumstances, should be forced outside to exercise can happily have that opinion. As soon as the time machine is invented to take them back to the 1950s their opinion will once again be valid. I think I'll just stick with accepting the progress in technology, and take to the great outdoors when it suits me and when the weather good.

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Leisure Industry Week 2007

Gamercize at LIW

Did you see Gamercize at the Birmingham NEC last month? No? I am not surprised, the show was very busy as you can see from the picture! Gamercize was exhibited connected to a junior cycle and a junior stepper, as a two player combination.


This proved a popular setup with visitors starting up fit kids clubs in locations all over Europe. Organisations planning to get kids fit with video games were diverse, a new theme park in the Netherlands, a Premiership Football Club in England, a Local Education Authority in Wales and a health club chain from Spain were most notable.


A common misconception from the show visitors was how the interaction worked. Unlike other exergame equipment, Gamercize does not interfere with the game play. Ok, if you stop exercising the games pauses, but that is less of interference and more prompting. Without this interaction there would be no incentive to exercise. All of the kids (and some of the adults!) were able to keep the game going without any trouble. The skill needed to play the game is not hampered by physical ability or co-ordination. When visitors had this explained, the proverbial penny dropped.


Some direct control equipment was on show, although a poor choice of game did not show its potential to the full. That is a pity because for 100% racing addicts, the equipment is very good. A word of warning from the "Stinger", of The Stinger Report fame, was that heart rates should be monitored on exergames that require effort for progress, especially for children, to avoid health risks. A very good point from a very knowledgeable individual.


Nintendo Wii was on show too, which was good to see but a warning from a school who purchased a number of them was quite revealing. They had found kids started to play the games by sitting down and flicking the wand with small hand movements. Clearly this is not in the spirit the console should be used. A few of the wands have since gone missing too. Wii Fit will probably be a better alternative for exercise on the Wii.


We left our second LIW very happy with the progress in attitudes to exergames and it was great to meet up again with the good people from the dedicated fitness and fun kids clubs. A few words from a very passionate and clearly dedicated Ian Wright on his inolvment and experiences with kids fitness was also very welcome. Have a good year to all exhibitors, and for sure we will all be back at the NEC again in 2008.

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