Wii-ercise questioned

In theory, when you play a game on Nintendo’s Wii system, you’re being active. I’ll admit to having broke a sweat while Wii boxing a few rounds. But according to a new study, researchers from Baylor College of Medicine found that people exert around the same amount of energy the Wii as they might by sitting on the couch playing a hand-held game. 78 consoles were passed out to kids, half of which had active games like boxing or dancing. The other half received consoles with more sedentary games, which they could sit down and play. From Reuters: “Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, children with the active games didn’t get any more exercise than those given inactive video games.”

So the next time you’re in the ‘ring,’ thinking about going another three rounds, maybe you should step through the ropes and out the door.