According to reports from the HealthDay News, video games like the Nintendo Wii can actually help keep seniors physically active. This is good news for a lot of overweight seniors who have difficulty keeping up with outdoor exercises. With the Wii and similar video games, they can now get their much needed exercise in the comfort of their own homes.
Although Wii activities can’t burn more calories than outdoor activities, researchers found that movement-oriented video games tend to motivate seniors more than difficult outdoor sports could. This is probably because they can control these movement-oriented games more than they could an actual game.
Certainly, these movement-oriented games help curb the growing health risks for this sedentary population. Thirty percent of males and forty of adult-females over 70 hardly get any physical activities. This is due to the fact that they’re hesitant about staying outdoors. These video games are good exercise alternatives, and a few studies have actually used the Wii to keep older people and those with disabilities fit.
Twenty-four obese men and women were outfitted for this study. They were all asked to wear wrist accelerometers so the number of calories they burn can be measured. Each test lasted for half an hour. According to their findings, a total of 20 to 176 calories can be burned playing the Wii bowling game. A team bowling game, however, proved to give less health benefits, only letting players burn 18 to 89 calories.
The Wii tennis game helped players burn 17 to 72 calories, while baseball helped senior players burn 22 to 155 calories per half an hour.