99: West Virginia's Health Revolution

[The Escapist Staff]

"Far from kids getting bored with the mass arrangement, Ryan says his classmates at Hedgesville Middle School love the game. 'When [the gym teacher] has the mats out, the line's always a mile long,' he says. 'We just got two more mats, so you can get four people playing it now. So, like, it was cool before, but now you actually have a line.'
"If there's a kid who doesn't like DDR, says Bailey, 'we haven't found them yet. Almost all the kids who've played it enjoyed it, and wanted to continue to play it.'"
Lara Crigger reports on West Virgina's revolutionary program to curb childhood obesity - with videogames.

West Virginia's Health Revolution

 

[Dom Camus]

So why did the test kids respond so well to DDR, when traditional team-based sports had left them cold?

Let's hope the conclusions of this study reflect Ryan's answers, because I think Murphy has it badly wrong. DDR is more fun for these kids. It's that simple.

Traditional team sports are often extremely badly "designed" (insofar as they're designed at all) for promoting exercise. As a kid I saw most sports as violent and offering little worthwhile gameplay. And most team sports were structured in such a way that the weakest member of the team had little impact when they were playing well but a large impact when they screwed up. Not ideal, psychologically.

I have a kind of rather unlikely dream that progress in video game design may one day feed back into real-world team sports and people will start to design and play games that actually don't suck. That would be nice.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Team sports are often less about individual enjoyment than group achievement. Hence the emphasis on "team". I'm not sure the proponents of or participants in this kind of activity would agree with your desire for a shift in focus.

 

[Lara Crigger]

So why did the test kids respond so well to DDR, when traditional team-based sports had left them cold?

Let's hope the conclusions of this study reflect Ryan's answers, because I think Murphy has it badly wrong. DDR is more fun for these kids. It's that simple.

I don't think Murphy would disagree with you on your assessment of the appeal of traditional team sports at all. Indeed, DDR is more fun for kids who dislike team-based games because it is so individualistic. It levels the playing field: The fat kid can finally be just as good as the captain of the football team, or even better. That's what makes it so appealing.

But DDR also appeals because it's a videogame, and kids love videogames. And you do sort of forget that you're exercising when you're trying to keep up with those arrows. Instead, you simply have fun - which is what you're saying. And that?s the whole point - you've got to get these kids hooked on something they?ll have fun with, because it doesn't matter how intense or successful your exercise plan is, they're just like adults: if they don't like doing it, they won't do it.

As for DDR sucking, I think you and I and tens of thousands of West Virginian kids will just have to disagree on that point.

 

[Bongo Bill]

I'm not entirely convinced as to the accuracy of the advertisement on page six, here.... Well, I'm only through one article.

As for obesity, I've always been of the opinion [http://frontal-lobe.net/?p=40] that calling it a "war" or "epidemic" casts a certain urgency on the issue that just isn't there. Children aside (which, I realize, makes this rant less relevant in the context of the article), being obese is something that a person does to him/herself. Your neighbor being fat has nothing to do with you being (or not being) fat, aside from a common influence that you may respond to differently.

Calling it an epidemic just makes me wonder, "Why? Are you afraid of catching it?" Calling it a war just seems like a "merciful" gesture to absolve people of responsibility for their own health problems. Barring crippling injury, being fit is a matter of willpower, period. Genes and circumstances might make it easier or harder, but nothing can make it automatic or impossible.

If they choose to employ their willpower to a different end than their health, why should I care? All it means for me is bigger helpings are available at restaurants and wider seats in the theater.

As for children, my stance is largely the same: parents take responsibility for their kids, up until the point where the kids decide things on their own, the transitional period to which coincidentally tends to occur at the same point that they are physiologically best suited to become fit.

That being said, studies like this are always a good thing, and bully for the kids who're participating in it.

 

[Lara Crigger]

As for obesity, I've always been of the opinion that calling it a "war" or "epidemic" casts a certain urgency on the issue that just isn't there. Children aside (which, I realize, makes this rant less relevant in the context of the article), being obese is something that a person does to him/herself. Your neighbor being fat has nothing to do with you being (or not being) fat, aside from a common influence that you may respond to differently.

Yes, you're correct, barring hormonal problems and crippling injury, obesity is largely self-inflicted. However, there are two reasons that the issue warrants concern on a national scale.

1) Children have limited say in matters that concern their own health. They are subject to forces outside their control, especially younger kids; even if they wanted to be healthier, many overweight children don't have the support they need from their parents and community, for whatever reasons. Ryan Walker is incredibly lucky that his family rallied around his health like they did. But not every child's parents have the knowledge, resources, inclination, or - most importantly - the money to do the same. (It is no coincidence that a quarter of the fifth-graders in West Virginia, one of the poorest states in the nation, are clinically obese). That's one of the reasons why the Games for Health study and this DDR rollout are so important: To help those kids who aren't getting help in other ways.

2) Obesity-related issues drive up your health insurance costs. According to PEIA numbers, diseases and health complications directly linked to obesity (Type II diabetes, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, etc) cost PEIA members $77 million in 2005. Ouch. And that's just for one health insurance company, too, a local, statewide one at that. Lowering obesity on a nationwide scale is clearly in your wallet's best interest.

 

[Bongo Bill]

All I want is to not hear about how other people are fat all the time. Is that so much to ask?

 

[Lara Crigger]

All I want is to not hear about how other people are fat all the time. Is that so much to ask?

In a country where two-thirds of the adult population is overweight, and one-fifth is clinically obese, yes. As long as weight continues to be a problem on such a large scale, we will continue to discuss its causes and effects on our society as well as potential solutions. You might as well get used to it.

Edit: That's a fascinating article, Cheeze. I hadn't heard much about our country's shrinking problem. But I wonder if it's just a factor of the welfare and health insurance: Nutritionally poor food is so prevalent in our society that even relatively wealthy people will eat at least some of it during their childhoods, and if they eat too much, that lack of nutrition would also contribute to stunted growth.