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Wii Games Keep Seniors Moving

2010; Elsevier BV; Volume: 11; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s1526-4114(10)60311-3

2377-066X

KERRI WACHTER,

Physical Activity and Health

BALTIMORE – The Wii video-game system helped elderly players burn calories and become more active in a pilot study of 24 adults aged 66–78 years. Group members burned 17–176 kcal during 30-minute games of Wii baseball, tennis, or team or individual bowling, Elizabeth Orsega-Smith, PhD, reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine. The participants were enrolled at senior centers in Delaware. They were mostly women (87%) with an average age of 72 years. Participants were independent, community dwelling, and healthy but overweight – their mean body mass index was 32.67 kg/m2. The participants wore accelerometers on their wrists during the games, and the researchers calculated caloric expenditure from the readings. Caloric expenditure were 22–114 kcal for baseball and 17–72 kcal for tennis. Caloric expenditure for team bowling was 18–89 kcal, but individual bowling burned 20–176 kcal. “For the most part, the seniors were able to pick up the game pretty rapidly. They didn't really have much difficulty in grasping the concept of using the controller and the motions that it takes to bowl, play tennis, or play baseball,” said Dr. Orsega-Smith said in an interview. In addition to getting the players moving, the video games inspired some participants to return to real games. “There were a number of participants who may have bowled maybe 10, 15, even 20 years ago” and after the Wii sessions, began real-world bowling again at local alleys, said Dr. Orsega-Smith. In fact, for some participants who needed hip or knee replacements, “after doing the Wii bowling, they decided to go ahead and get those procedures done so they could [do real] bowling.” The researchers are analyzing other measures of physical activity and general well-being collected during a Wii bowling tournament that took place from September 2009 to May 2010. “We were able to get measures on their physical activity levels, psychosocial levels, self-esteem, social support, and quality of life,” said Dr. Orsega-Smith, who is an associate professor in the department of health, nutrition, and exercise sciences at the University of Delaware, Newark. Although the data are still being analyzed, some psychosocial aspects of the competition were apparent during the tournament, said Dr. Orsega-Smith. “They were able to gain social support from one another and were having a very enjoyable time. … Some of the individuals who had cognitive deficits were playing in groups, and because they were interacting in a group, the other individuals were able to help them be successful in playing the Wii – doing some type of activity besides just sitting there.” Rebecca Ferrini, MD, CMD, medical director of the Edgemoor long-term care facility in Santee, Calif., said, “We use the Wii at our facility and find that even patients with significant cognitive and physical disability enjoy playing it and watching others.” She cautioned, however, that using the Wii is not without its burdens, including keeping the device charged, clean, functional, and all its component accounted for. Dr. David Smith, MD, CMD, president of Geriatric Consultants of Central Texas in Brownwood, offered other reservations about the game machine in long-term care settings. He noted that the current study's outcomes were calories burned and weight loss. The current study's authors “have jumped to a conclusion that this is a good thing, weight loss,” he said. “I'm not sure this is proven – certainly not in long-term care and probably not in [community-dwelling] or assisted living populations either.” Other possible benefits of the activity, such as muscle tone and sense of well-being need to be studied, said Dr. Smith. In fact, the researchers intend to do additional tests. “What we're planning to do this summer is … to incorporate some functional tests of balance—chair stand tests, the Berg balance test, as well as the timed up and go test” said Dr. Orsega-Smith reported that she had no relevant financial conflict of interest. Kerri Wachter is a senior writer with Elsevier Global Medical News.