Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Latest CA PE report

Rec'd this from a colleague over at San Bernardino County Public Health, Pam Sampson! Perfect opportunity for exergaming to provide a solution! How do we get the word to the folks who make the decisions???

Ernie

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Good afternoon Fit 2Gether partners and LIAs,

Last one for the day. Thought you may be interested in the Health Policy Brief from UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. See summary below, and the policy brief attached or visit, http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/files/adolescentpepb.pdf. …Pam

FYI: CA recommends 200 minutes/every 10 days for elementary and 400 minutes/every 10 days for middle & high school, but NASPE recommends 150 minutes/week plus one 20 minute recess/day for elementary and 225 minutes/week for middle & high school.

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May 2011

Adolescent Physical Education and Physical Activity in California

Allison L. Diamant, Susan H. Babey and Joelle Wolstein

S UMMA R Y: In California, more than 1.3 million adolescents (38%) do not participate in physical education (PE) at school, and this rate increases dramatically with age, from just 5% at age 12 to 77% at age 17. In addition, only 19% of teens meet current physical activity recommendations. Participation in PE at school is associated with more overall physical activity. Policies that promote more opportunities for physical activity, including those that help schools meet or exceed current PE requirements, can contribute to greater levels of physical activity for adolescents.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Can Wii make you fit?

5-22-11: Check out this article that quotes some character named Medina! ;-)

http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/can-wii-make-you-fit-the-arguments-for-and-against-1530/

Healthy Business — Special Report — Game Makers Push Fitness To Health Clubs - CNBC


5-22-11: A good intro article with quotes from Motion Fitness's Ed Kasanders and researcher guru Dr. Ann Maloney. Glad to see exergaming getting exposure on CNBC! At least they didn't say that exergames were totally useless. ;-)

As for Fuze Fit's Dave Jame's comments on kid's picking the Trampoline over the Wii, it's too bad that they didn't print the rest of what he probably said: that there are a lot of other kids who would prefer the wii over the trampoline!

The bottom line is that we need to use ALL the tools available to us--exergaming tools AND traditional exercise tools--to get kids to move more. Just because some kids choose the trampoline over the Wii doesn't mean exergames are a waste--NO! As long as they are moving more than they were...that's the key!!!

In my experience with the Xrtainment Zone, our kids overweight classes (Family Fit Zone), & our classes at Beaver Med Group, exergames DO reach kids who aren't into the traditional, so I'm grateful we have this tool to use!

Ernie Medina, Jr., DrPH
Exergaming Interventionist
MedPlayTech.com

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Can exergames replace treadmill?


5-12-11 Thx to Exergaming Evangelist from Down Under, Brett, for tweeting and posting this on FB!

Heart Rate and Perceived Exertion During Self-Selected Intensities for Exergaming Compared to Traditional Exercise in College-Age Participants

Kraft, Justin A; Russell, William D; Bowman, Tracy A; Selsor, Clifford W III; Foster, Grant D

Check out this just published article in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, March 2011.

They compared workouts on DDR and Gamebike to treadmill and here's what they found:

"Results support that exergames are capable of eliciting physiological responses necessary for fitness improvements. Practitioners might consider exergames as periodic activity options for clients needing motivation to be regularly active."

The evidence just keeps coming out that certain exergames CAN reach the MVPA level!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Games for Health conf. less than wk away!



The 7th Annual Games for Health Conference in Boston, MA is May 17-19, now just over one week away!

Over three days we have scheduled over 100 talks covering a complete gamut of opportunities for videogames and videogame technologies in health and healthcare.

Registration fees will be rising soon. Register today and receive 10% off the current ticket price using the discount code BOST11.

To see schedules and register visit: http://bit.ly/gfh2011

FREE PASS OFFER
To see if you qualify for our free pass for sensor-based developers and researchers visit: http://bit.ly/mLR3De

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Three days featuring 120+ speakers and over 80 talks, two networking receptions, contests, group activities, and more.

  • Day 1 Keynote
    Positive Psychology -> Positive Computing -> Positive Videogames
    Dr. Martin Seligman, The Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

  • Day 2 Keynote
    "The Last Mile Doesn't Have to be the Hardest: Solving Problems Between Games and Health"
    Dr. Roni Zeiger, Google

  • Featured Talk
    "Gaming Your Way to a Healthier Lifestyle" by Shellie Pfohl, Executive Director, The President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition

  • A games for health briefing by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

  • A panel on gamification ideas applied to various issues in health, including exercise, and healthy living

  • GameShare - A special project and presentation developed with Ben Heckendorn of BenHeck.com

  • To see the latest scheduled sessions please visit:
    http://www.gamesforhealth.org/index.php/conferences/gfh-2011/sched201-block/

    For up-to-date conference information please visit:
    http://www.gamesforhealth.org/index.php/conferences/gfh-2011/

    GAMES FOR HEALTH FEATURES THREE DAYS OF EVENTS...

    May 17: Pre-conference Events & Workshops
    May 18-19: 7th Annual Games for Health Conference
    Multiple tracks of great content including...
    • Open Content Tracks
    • Exergaming & Active Gaming
    • Cognitive & Emotional Health
    • Sensorimotor Rehab
    • Nutrition & Games
    • Social Games & Virtual Worlds
    • Sensor Games for Health
    The 7th Annual Games for Health Conference is just over two weeks away.

    Registration fees will be rising soon. Register today and receive 10% off the current ticket price using the discount code BOS11.

    To see schedules and register visit: http://bit.ly/gfh2011

    ABOUT GAMES FOR HEALTH
    Founded in 2004, the Games for Health Project supports community, knowledge, and business development efforts to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health and health care. The Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the lead conference sponsor and a major supporter of the Games for Health Project. To date, the project has brought together researchers, medical professionals, and game developers to share information about the impact games and game technologies can have on health, health care, and policy.

    A major effort of the Games for Health Project is the annual Games for Health Conference. Over three days, more than 400 attendees will participate in over 60 sessions provided by an international array of 80+ speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehab, epidemiology, training, cognitive health, nutrition, and health education. The Games for Health Project is produced by the Serious Games Initiative, a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars effort that applies cutting-edge games and game technologies to a range of public and private policy, leadership, and management issues.