Reflecting public health interest in the potential of exergames to encourage PA , many review s of this literature have appeared.18 - 20 Some review s have been sympathetic,21,22 whereas others have been critical.23,24 A reasonably balanced assessment revealed that , in research laboratories , exergames could provide an intense workout that included moderate-to-vigorous PA  , but under less-supervised circumstances , children tended not to get much activity18 and their interest in the activity waned over 1 week or less .
Video games , the most commonly enjoyed medium by this generation of children , generates more money than Hollywood productions .
Forty percent of these studies influenced obesity or obesogenic behavior in the desired directions.12 A roundtable discussion of investigators of G4H and obesity indicated substantial potential for video games to reduce child obesity , but emphasized the need for games to be fun , not just health promoting.13 Some of the obesity-related studies used games specially design ed to target diet and /or PA change outside the games.14 - 17 " Squire 's Quest ! , "
Competitive versus cooperative exergame play for African American adolescents' executive function skills: short-term effects in a long-term training intervention.
Exergames are videogames that require gross motor activity , thereby combining gaming with physical activity . This study examined the role of competitive versus cooperative exergame play on short-term changes in executive function skills , following a 10-week exergame training intervention .  Fifty-four low-income overweight and obese African American adolescents were r and omly assigned to a competitive exergame condition , a cooperative exergame condition , or a no-play control group . Youths in the competitive exergame condition improved in executive function skills more than did those in the cooperative exergame condition and the no-play control group . Weight loss during the intervention was also significantly positively correlated with improved executive function skills . The findings link competitive exergame play to beneficial cognitive outcomes for at-risk ethnic minority adolescents
Reflecting public health interest in the potential of exergames to encourage PA , many review s of this literature have appeared.18 - 20 Some review s have been sympathetic,21,22 whereas others have been critical.23,24 A reasonably balanced assessment revealed that , in research laboratories , exergames could provide an intense workout that included moderate-to-vigorous PA  , but under less-supervised circumstances , children tended not to get much activity18 and their interest in the activity waned over 1 week or less .
Video games , the most commonly enjoyed medium by this generation of children , generates more money than Hollywood productions .
Forty percent of these studies influenced obesity or obesogenic behavior in the desired directions.12 A roundtable discussion of investigators of G4H and obesity indicated substantial potential for video games to reduce child obesity , but emphasized the need for games to be fun , not just health promoting.13 Some of the obesity-related studies used games specially design ed to target diet and /or PA change outside the games.14 - 17 " Squire 's Quest ! , "