Impact of Exergaming on Elementary Children’s Physical Activity Levels

Background/Purpose:  Despite the negative impact of sedentary video games on physical activity (PA), exergaming have the potential to help promote a physically active lifestyle among school children (Gao et al., 2013). In the past several years, efforts have been made to examine the benefits of exergaming as a means for PA intervention. Studies indicated that these exergames have been effective in increasing children’s PA levels and psychosocial beliefs (Gao et al., 2012). However, investigations in the school-based setting have primarily been conducted in extracurricular setting and with self-reported PA levels. This study was designed to examine the impact of an exergaming intervention on children’s accelerometer-determined PA levels as compared with physical education (PE). 

Method:  A total of 261 second and third grade children (127 boys, 134 girls; Mean_age=8.27; 73% White) were recruited from two Title I elementary schools. Children’s baseline 5-day moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was assessed in September/October in 2012. Participants were assigned to one of two groups with the school as the experimental unit: (1) exergaming group (125-minute weekly structured PA programs [three 25-minute PE plus two 25-minute exergaming in one week, followed by two 25-minute PE plus three 25-minute exergaming in the following week]); and (2) Control group (125-minute weekly PE). All children underwent identical assessment of PA in April/May in 2013 (posttest). The outcome variable was mean of children’s daily minutes in MVPA.

Analysis/Results: The final sample comprised of 233 children. ANOVA with repeated measures yielded a significant main effect for time, F (1, 231) = 80.08, p < .01, η² = .26, and for intervention, F (1, 231) = 4.74, p =03. Specifically, both intervention children and control children had significantly greater increased MVPA over time. Also, control children (Mean=40.76) had significantly higher MVPA than intervention children (Mean=36) did at both baseline and post-test (Mean =52.59 for control; Mean=47.76  for intervention). But there were no significant differences of interaction effect. ANOVA with difference scores (posttest-baseline) further revealed that there was no significant difference between intervention children and control children, F (1, 231) = .001, p= .98.

Conclusions:  The control children demonstrated higher MVPA than the intervention children at both tests which may be attributed to the school and individual characteristics. However, both groups had significant greater increases in MVPA over time. Thus, exergaming could have the same positive effect on MVPA as PE. Findings may inform the development of innovative PA programs for school children.