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HHS HealthBeat (March 27, 2012)

Active games, less-active kids


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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Nicholas Garlow with HHS HealthBeat.

An active video game doesn’t necessarily make a kid more active. A new study of 78 children, ages 9 to 12, shows that kids were no more or less active when playing an active video game.

Dr. Tom Baranowski is a professor of pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.

“If Mama brings a video game home, can she expect that her child will get more physical activity, and the answer is, as far as we can tell, no.” (7 seconds)

Experts say children should get 60 minutes of activity a day for good health.

“Parents who want to have their kids to be more physically active should enroll their children in school-based sports teams, other kinds of physical activities.” (10 seconds)

The study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Nicholas Garlow.

Last revised: March 27, 2012