Wii Fit could do more harm than good
A university study suggests Wii Fit may not be as beneficial to health as previously thought. Meanwhile some health experts have warned that older players may risk injury if they see the console as just a bit of fun.
The study by Scott Owens of the University of Mississippi involved tracking eight families activity over six months: three with the console and game in their home and three without it. Whether eight families is enough to make for reliable results is certainly questionable.
The good news for backers of the game is that the children involved did show “significant increases in aerobic fitness” after their time with the game. However, there were “no significant changes in daily physical activity, muscular fitness, flexibility, balance or body composition for families as a whole.”
Unfortunately the study didn’t really discover whether use of the console has a marked effect. That’s because the average use per household declined from 22 minutes per day in the first six weeks to four minutes per day in the second six weeks. So the problem may not be that the activities don’t improve fitness, but rather than people get too bored easily and stop using the game. That’s a point that’s been picked up on in several reviews of the game’s sequel, Wii Fit Plus, which allows greater scope for customizing exercise routines.
The most amusing aspect of the study comes in a press release which stresses that Owens’ department bought the consoles for the study “because it is important faculty research that seeks applied solutions to real-world problems.” Sounds like somebody doth protest too much.
Meanwhile the British Osteopath Association has warned parents of a certain age to take care if they buy the console as a family Christmas gift. They advised anyone playing the sports game to warm up before playing and then cool down afterwards, noting, “Some games such as tennis are akin to a full-on workout. If people who aren’t used to exercising sit down afterwards without doing some stretching then when they get back up it is likely they will experience searing pain in places like the shoulder or back.”
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