But what about non-violent video games like Lego® Harry Potter or even “exergames” like Wii Sports, which supposedly promote physical activity? The former is the cause of concern for parents who worry that their children spend an unhealthy amount of time in front of a video screen instead of engaging in more creative play or focusing on necessities like school-work or reading (also a hazard for older kids who spend a lot of time texting). And parents who have invested in the latter will be disappointed to learn that “active” games don’t actually result in significantly increased exercise. Last month, the New York Times reported that “exergames turn out to be much digital ado about nothing, at least as far as measurable health benefits for children.” The author, Randall Stross—also a parent—lamented that, “‘Active’ video games distributed to homes with children do not produce the increase in physical activity that naïve parents (like me) expected. That’s according to a study undertaken by the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and published early this year in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
