Study Says Video Games Can Give a Workout

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) put the video game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) to the test and fond that the game can be a very good workout for children. ACE commissioned the study out of the University of Wisconsin to look at the caloric expenditure of players during the game.

The study used male and female subjects from 12 to 25 years old and half the volunteers were under 18. The study showed that players had a marked increase in exercise intensity as they participated.

Adults burned more calories and on average teens burned 5.9 kcal/min on light, 6.7 kcal/min on standard and 8.1 kcal/min on difficult mode. Test participants used DDR Extreme 2 for the PS2 and a dance pad.

The full report of the study in PDF format is available for download via 14U.