NUMBER 1
This article examines the idea if video games can help children exercise. This experimental study shows that owning a phyicaly active video game is usually not a big enough influence on a child’s physical activity level.
Strengths:
The study is by Tom Baranowski, a psychologist at Baylor College of Medicine, and his research team. It was published in March 2012 in Pediatrics, a medical journal for pediatricians.
This study’s participants were boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 12.
Every child was given a Wii video game system to play with at home.
Half of the students were asked to choose two out of five active games offered them, and half were asked to choose two out of five traditional video games, played while sitting down.
Weaknesses:
The study is a few years old.
The researchers did not know whether the 25-28 minutes of daily physical activity was from playing video games or from other activities.
The researchers were unable to match accelerometer data with Wii play time records or even with the play time diaries.
The active games that the researchers selected might not have been the most appealing to children
Can Children Get Exercise Through Video Games? (“Exergaming”?)
NUMBER 2
This article examines Esports and the effects video games have on a child’s level of inactivity. The medical community believes that there are adverse side effects to prolonged gaming sessions over a child’s adolescence.
Strengths:
The article is written by 3 distinquished writers in March of 2018 by the pediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).
They state that the burn‐out associated with competitive video‐gaming is associated not only with the playing of games but also with the streaming of games, as some Twitch streamers have been reported to occasionally stream for periods of 24 h or longer to satisfy the appetites of the site’s subscribers who follow and, in some instances, pay for content from streamers.
Weaknesses:
Could have a larger, long term experiment and research.
Esports differ markedly from traditional sports in that the athletes manipulate avatars on computer screens against opponents instead of physically confronting opponents on a field.
It is still is imperative to encourage more exercise and physical activity programs for esports enthusiasts.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.13897
NUMBER 3
This article and video question the Healthy Kids of Canada’s position that active games is not a helpful strategy to help kids be more physically active.
Strengths:
Active video games are a good way to break up sedentary time, like sitting on the couch, but not as good as playing real active games or sports.
Enjoy playing active video games with your kids, and let them enjoy playing them with their friends, but don’t misunderstand this as a replacement of real physical activity.
If money is spent on active video games as a means of exercise, it might be better spent on skipping ropes, balls, ice skates or other sporting equipment.
Weaknesses:
The position does not say that kids should never play active games, but rather parents shouldn’t confuse active gaming time with real physical activity
Is a blog and not a scientifically researched journal
https://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/2012/11/26/playing-active-video-games-doesnt-lead-to-increased-daily-physical-activity-levels/
NUMBER 4
This article proposes the idea that it is possible to get a decent workout and play video games simultaneously. It states that you can make progress towards a fitness goal and level up your paladin at the same time. Then continues to list eleven exercises that aid in a child’s physical activity level.
Strengths:
On a popular website, very easy to read, and very organized.
The article begins with an attention grabbing picture and is separated by main points that are clearly defined.
The article incorporates many familiar and popular games as well as easy to learn exercises that can help a child.
Weaknesses:
There is not much information on the author.
The article was published a few years ago.
It is on a popular website and is not scientifically backed by research.
The article is more like a blog than a research paper or experiment.
https://www.geek.com/culture/11-exercises-you-can-do-while-playing-video-games-1697647/
NUMBER 5
The purpose of this article was to investigate the use of video games in promoting exercise behavior among children and to examine the impact of the intervention on participants’ exercise self-efficacy, in addition to assessing physiological changes.
Strengths:
A sample of 55 children enrolled in the Family Fit program, where participants were categorized into 2 groups: healthy weight and overweight.
The article supplies step by step instruction to te experiment that is performed.
The article is written by 4 different writers with each having multiple graduate degrees.
The article appears on a reliable source of information.
Weaknesses:
The article was written in 2017.
Five children were excluded because they fell outside of the study parameters for age.
15 were excluded because they did not attend at least 5 of the 7 weeks of the structured program. So, only 40 children completed the program and met the study parameters, resulting in a 73% completion rate.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4905161/