Energy expenditure and cardiovascular responses to seated and active gaming in children.
OBJECTIVE
To examine energy expenditure and cardiovascular responses in children during seated and active gaming.


METHODS
Comparison study.


METHODS
Children's Exercise Laboratory, University of Hong Kong.


METHODS
Eighteen children (aged 6-12 years) recruited from local primary schools.


METHODS
Active and seated computer games played by all participants.


METHODS
Resting energy expenditure and heart rate measured before gaming, during seated gaming, and during use of 2 active gaming formats (XaviX bowling and XaviX J-Mat; SSD Company Ltd, Shiga, Japan). We used repeated-measures analyses of variance to compare the outcome measures.


RESULTS
The energy expenditure was significantly higher during seated gaming (mean [SD], 1.31 [0.19] kcal/min(-1); P < .001), XaviX bowling (1.89 [0.45] kcal/min(-1); P < .001), and XaviX J-Mat gaming (5.23 [1.63] kcal/min(-1); P < .001) compared with rest. The energy expended above rest was significantly higher for the 2 active gaming formats (P < .001 for both) compared with seated gaming. The heart rate was significantly higher during XaviX bowling (mean [SD, ]102 [20] beats/min(-1); P < .001) and XaviX J-Mat gaming (160 [20] beats/min(-1); P < .001) compared with rest. Heart rate during the XaviX J-Mat gaming was significantly higher than during seated gaming (P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown that using active gaming media results in meaningful increases in energy expenditure and heart rate compared with the seated screen environment. Manipulating the gaming environment can provide children with appealing activity alternatives, and further development of "exertainment" interventions is warranted, in particular determination of sustainability.
Mellecker
Robin R
RR
Institute of Human Performance, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
McManus
Alison M
AM