Wii gaming for health also works for old fatties

3:00 PM on 06.04.2010   |   Dale North

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A new study by University of Delaware Associate Professor Elizabeth Orsega-Smith looked into overweight seniors that were playing Wii Sports. Could they lose weight like their younger, whippersnapper counterparts were?

Yep. Fat, old gamers can get some benefit out of Wii gaming. In the study, which gauged calorie burn of a group aged 66 to 78, 30-minute play sessions of Wii Sports games had them burning between 20 and 176 calories a session. Mind you, some of these subjects had body mass indexes of up to 39 (over 30 indicates obesity). But it Wii games seemed to do the trick: Baseball sessions burned up to 144 calories and Wii Tennis get them up to 72 calories burnt a session.

Orsega-Smit said, "Given that 40 percent of older-adult females and 30 of males ages 70 and above do not participate in any significant physical activity, this population faces growing health challenges. For otherwise sedentary people, games like the Wii offer an enjoyable way to become more active and more healthy."

She notes that while the Wii games burn less calories than the IRL versions, they're still a good vehicle for getting old fatties off the couch and into a healthier lifestyle.

Study: Fat, Old People Can Burn Calories Using Wii [gamepolitics]