YMCA luring kids off the couch using video games
By Dave Jeyes
Over the last few years, video game makers have been including inputs that allow players to move or dance to play games. Now a Washington, DC area YMCA is putting this concept to the test with a gym that looks a lot like an arcade.
The Alexandria, VA YMCA has built a gym filled with about a dozen interactive video games for kids to play. These games are designed to get kids moving, shaking and burning calories without even realizing that it’s a workout.
The Nintendo Wii has been credited with bringing such interactive games to the mainstream. The equipment at this particular YMCA is more like the Wii on steroids.
The equipment can let you snowboard down a virtual slope or peddle off-road through a muddy ravine. While the kids play these games, they hardly notice the workout they’re receiving in return.
The equipment used at the Alexandria YMCA is produced by a iTech Fitness, a company that specializes in interactive arcades. iTech Fitness has begun partnerships with other YMCA facilities and has opened clubs stocked with its equipment.
iTech’s games can simulate a wide variety of activities including four-wheeling, surfing, snowboarding, boxing, and even a flight simulator. The company holds competitions for the highest scores on its games and even sponsors a team of arcade players.
There’s still one major hurdle to the widespread uptake of these high-tech fitness games and that’s cost. Just one of these machines can cost upwards of $30,000. The YMCA’s interactive arcade, dubbed the “Y-Zone,” is estimated to have cost about $200,000 in equipment.
With such a high price tag, we may not see these arcades become commonplace for some time. Even so, it’s hard to say whether these video games will help kids make the lifestyle changes necessary to lessen widespread obesity. However, catching kids young and keeping them engaged with healthy activities is the basis for building good lifelong fitness habits.
Related:
Entry was posted
on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 11:07 am
under
Read more entries by Dave Jeyes.
Stumble It!
