'Active' Computer Games Burn Very Few Calories
So-called "active" computer games, such as Ninteno Wii, have been touted at a solution to the problem of sedentary fat kids who never go outside. But researchers from Liverpool John Moores University have found that such games SUCK AS A FORM OF EXERCISE. Wii Sports, for example, burns only 60 extra calories per hour, compared to playing any game on an Xbox or PlayStation, which tends to burn 107 calories per hour (probably because it's more exciting to play).
10:05 AM * PERMALINK * 7 comments
Comments:
well that doesn't look that bad to me. the difference between walking and not moving isn't that big either.
but I think you would agree that if fat kids would walk around for, let's say, two hours a day it would certainly help them to loose weight.
That sounds counter-intuitive. They're saying that moving your thumbs while sitting burns MORE calories than flailing your arms and legs around while in standing position?
I think they're suggested that one hour of heart-pounding burns more calories than an hour of boredom.
Mike Elgan
The article seems to have an agenda. Not only do they associate 60 calories per hour with the Wii and 100 an hour for the XBox, but they compare 15 minute bursts of activity to a solid hour of "brisk" walking (not to be confused with a traditional walk - this is a power walk or borderline jog). They top it off by comparing the increase over the course of a day assuming an hour's worth of gameplay - anything amortized over a day is going to look tiny. This seems to have been payed for by Adidas or the likes, the BBC version even went so far as to suggest football (soccer) as an alternative.
Had Nintendo paid for it, even with the skewed test they ran, the report would have said that XBox burns 107 calories per hour and the Wii 167 calories per hour - over a 50% increase in calories consumed.
So the net result is that the Wii has significantly more calorie burning capabilities than the XBox, but I suspect the numbers will be even better if you use it as such (play actively and for longer periods of time than 15 minutes). However, you don't need a Wii to exercise and can play sports, run, buy a treadmill, etc. I'm much more interested in the 107 calories per hour for playing XBox games and would love to see how that compares to wathcing TV or reading a book.
This has to be welcome news. I am so happy that intellectual effort was spent on such an earth shattering investigation. The report has made my day.
Really, only one question: Who the f*** paid for this idiocy?
The fact that you don't eat snacks while on the Wii. People tend to eat massive amounts playing Xbox 360 / PS3 seems to escape people.
That kid is the shape of things to come!
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