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Daniel Nzai (left) and Ricardo Duran power their video game by pedaling on the Gamebikes in the Interact Zone Zoe Alhanati (foreground) and Sebastion Silva have fun and get a workout at the same time with Dance Dance Revolution video game inside the Interact Zone at the Massad YMCA on Butler Road in Stafford County. |
BY JIM HALL
Local schools and fitness clubs have learned that they can get kids moving and combat childhood obesity by combining vigorous exercise with a generous helping of gaming technology.
Attach a video game to an exercise bicycle, for example, and kids will pedal in order to play.
Install an arcade version of Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, and kids will tap their toes.
As Garrett Heflin, 7, said this week as he worked out at the Rappahannock Area YMCA in Stafford County: "You have exercise and you learn to dance."
The YMCA and other local gyms, such as American Family Fitness in Spotsylvania County, have discovered "exergames," the interactive fitness machines for kids.
In Stafford County, more than a dozen of its schools have joined the movement with everything from the popular DDR dance game to Wii Fit programs and exercise videos by Billy Blanks and Christy Lane.
"If it's got a technology twist to it, if it's got a video gaming kind of feel to it, the kids like it," said Michael Justice, coordinator of health, physical education and driver education for Stafford schools.
The fitness clubs hope to please parents by offering something productive for "tweeners," the children who are too old for day care but not old enough for full floor privileges.
The YMCA opened a youth room last year called "The Interact Zone." At American Family Fitness, it's simply "The Zone."
The games offered in these rooms are in addition to the regular menu of sports camps, lessons and leagues. Organized games tend to be seasonal, said Barney Reiley, chief executive officer of the area YMCA.
"We felt like we wanted to offer children something constructive and physical all the time," Reiley said.
A corporate sponsor helped the YMCA purchase its games. It has a Trazer, a Sportwall, two Dance Dance Revolution machines and four Gamebikes.
The Gamebikes are similar to the exercise bicycles in the adult workout room. One difference is the video screen mounted to the wall in front of the bike.
The user operates the game by pedaling the bike and steering the controls. Stop pedaling and the screen stops.
With the Trazer, the user wears an interactive belt, which tracks movement and mimics it on the game screen.
The granddaddy of the games is DDR, the 10-year-old video game by the Konami Corporation.
With DDR, children step quickly on a floor pad, trying to match the parade of colored arrows before them on the screen.
"It's definitely a good workout once you get to the upper levels," said Jessica Salyers, a supervisor in the Interact Zone.
One night last week, Garrett, the 7-year-old, was dancing to "Suddenly I See," by KT Tunstall.
Across the room, Brittany Nealy, 11, was dancing at a faster pace to a cover version of "Crazy In Love," the Beyonce song.
In its "Zone," American Family Fitness has a Trazer game and child-size versions of the weight-training machines that adults use. It also has a Sportwall, an electronic board that has users chasing a series of flashing lights.
With its youth games and classes, the club tries to combine fun activities with vigorous physical activity, said Eric Koch, activities coordinator.
For many kids, gaming is usually done from a chair in the living room or in front of a computer. Combine this with a poor diet and the results can be unhealthy.
The percentage of obese children in the United States has more than doubled, and for some ages more than tripled, in the last 30 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Obese children grow up to become obese adults, said Dr. Thomas Franck. And obese adults are at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.
Franck, director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, told a recent forum on childhood obesity that cholesterol levels in obese children can be more than double those of non-obese children. And some obese children as young as 13 have the beginnings of heart disease, Franck said.
Cholesterol levels weren't a concern to Brittany, the 11- year-old who was dancing on the DDR console last week at the YMCA.
It was her first visit to the Interact Zone, and she was happy to be there. Usually she goes with her younger brother to the club's nursery while her parents exercise.
"In the nursery you don't get to do a lot of stuff," she said.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com
Percentage of children in the United States who are obese, 2003-2004: 2 to 5 years: 14 percent 6 to 11 years: 19 percent 12 to 19 years: 17 percent --U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
