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Working up a sweat playing video games on Nintendo’s interactive Wii console is no replacement for real exercise but at least it gets overweight children off the couch, according to British researchers.Children using a Wii console burned off about 2 percent more energy over a week compared to those using a traditional system, wrote Gareth Stratton, a researcher at Liverpool John Moore’s University, and colleagues, in the British Medical Journal. The Wii allows users to thrust, wave, swing and twist its one-handed, motion-sensitive controller to direct the on-screen action and simulate real life moves such as bowling, hitting a tennis ball, or shooting a bow and arrow. “The children were on their feet and they moved in all directions while performing basic motor control and fundamental movements skills that were not evident during seated gaming,” the team wrote. |