Wii and Xbox can make us healthier

Obesity has become a prevalent phenomenon. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines overweight and obesity as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” (Health Topics: Obesity, WHO) According to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), “21% of youngsters are overweight. The number of them has risen by 50% in the past 15 years.” (TopNews.in, Mohit Joshi, 2008.)

The issue can be attributed to the lack of exercise among young people. It certainly deserves our great attention, as obesity has lots of impacts: heart disease, diabetes or even cancer. Some people put blame on studying. Is that true?

Asia’s education system has always been described as examination-oriented. Students work under pressure. According to CUHK, “32.2% spent one to two hours per day on homework and studying, and 41.8% spent two hours or more per day on homework and studying.” (Consultancy Study on Sport Report, CUHK, 2009, p.17) After all, we have about 3 hours left free. We barely have free time. How come do we want to spend our luxurious time on doing sports? Why don’t we take a rest?

People normally suggest ‘better time management’ to those overweight: striking a balance between studying and doing exercise. Yet this suggestion are boring and no news already. I believe every rational one knows how to manage their time. Hereby, I would like to provide statistics about where people do sports, and how often, so that we can have a better understanding on how my following suggestion works.

According to the “Consultancy Study on Sport” submitted by The CUHK, about 60% people do sports at public facilities (built by the government); interestingly, only 8.8% of us do sports at home. (Consultancy Study on Sport Report, CUHK, 2009, p.10) It seems our tiny home is not a place for stretching. On the other hand, about 40% of Hong Kongers do sports only once or twice a week. That surely isn’t enough, as 30 minutes of physical activity every day are suggested in many researches. (See - Exercise: How much do I need every day? - MayoClinic)

I’m not suggesting new ways of time management here. Instead, I’m suggesting new means to alleviate the issue. That is, virtual sports. Virtual sports is playing sports through electronic gadgets, which also means people can play sports at home. Wii is one of the typical examples of virtual sports.

        There are many critics on the effectiveness of doing virtual sports: Virtual sports are just video games; the feeling of playing real sports with friends can by no means be replaced; how can virtual sports increase stamina? Does playing Wii help ease the tension of being overweight?

        With the convenience brought by these devices, like Wii or Xbox, we are now able to do sports at home. The percentage of people doing sports at home are hoped to increase. At least for people who have those devices, all of them will try sports at home. While people are at home, it’s much easier to turn on the sport device in their living room than wearing sports suits, going down stairs and do real sports. Let’s see if the following standpoints can persuade fellow overweight readers to change your lifestyle a little bit.

        Physically, there’s no doubt that virtual sports can never be compared to the real ones. Yet, it doesn’t mean virtual sports do nothing to our body. Both require stamina and concentration power, but the real ones require more. Real sports, basketball for example, can be of great help. Real sports plays an important role in the process of building muscles and combating obesity. But in reality, we don’t have so much time and space playing ball games. According to The American Council on Exercise, playing virtual sports, like Wii, burns less calories when compared to the real one. Let’s take Boxing as example. Wii boxing burns 7.2 calories/minute, while real boxing burns 10.2 calories/minute. There are extreme cases: Wii Golf burns 8 calories per minute, but driving range golf burns only 3.9 calories per minute. The report states that “The Wii sports games are generally not as effective as real sports but certainly better than sitting on the couch.” (dietblog, Wii Sports vs. Real Sports: Which Burns More Calories?, Mike Howard)

        What we can play through electronic devices are all kinds of sports while we can only play certain kinds of sports in real terms. Virtual sports give us opportunity to try all kinds of sports, and require little technique as well. Players are required to hold the Wii remote and move it alone towards different directions to reach a certain goal in game, while in real term, players are also required to move their equipment towards different directions, but with power and angle calculated. In other words, virtual sports offer us a sense of satisfaction. Besides, Wii gives us more chance trying new sports, so we can find out something new and interesting. In other words, if we found a new sport interesting and satisfactory, we are encouraged to try it in reality. That means Wii and Xbox can promote real sports. Players gain an equal sense of achievement, if not more, through playing video games.

        Also, when we are talking about social value, never should we reject the idea that playing unreal sports online can be a good means to enlarge ones social circle. According to Mayo Clinic, childhood obesity may lead to low self-esteem and bullying, behavior and learning problems, and depression. Doing sports can provide them a sense of satisfaction, enhancing their confidence. Easing some mental issues, virtual sports can serve some of the above purposes. Nowadays, online Wii and Xbox games are available, people can easily get online and play virtual sports with friends. It is common that players can make new friends through the internet, which also serves as an advantage of doing real sports – fostering interpersonal interaction.

        Economic value may be overlooked when talking about this topic. People spend much on buying electronic devices, such as Xbox and Wii. According to Newzoo game market report, Americans spend $25.3B each year on video games. Basically we spend more time on searching good video games than finding sports materials. In addition with online store, like Xbox Live and Nintendo Shop, we can just sit at home and download games from the store; so it is easier to buy a new sport game than buying equipment for certain sports. We can play different “sports” but we need not buy other equipment. On the other hand, we can save time from preparing and asking friends to join, but just sitting at home and turn on your device, connect with random friends and enjoy “sports”. So we will have no excuse not doing any sports.

        After all, there must be a reason to invent virtual sports like Xbox and Wii, or else the market itself will eliminate these device. Virtual sports can be better than the real one, if we have little time and space. One thing to be reminded: I am not saying virtual sports are really better. Doing virtual sports is just a new and convenient way of easing obesity, but it’s not the ultimate solution. The ultimate solution is still going outside and do the real sports. Now with technological innovation, we should have no more excuse not doing exercise. We can do exercise in our tiny crowded home.

Reference List

Mohit Joshi. (2008). TopNews.in: More than one in seven Hong Kong youngsters is overweight.

CUHK. (2009). Consultancy Study on Sport for All Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities, p.10 & p.17

Mike Howard. (2008). Wii Sports vs. Real Sports: Which Burns More Calories? By The American Council on Exercise.

Newzoo Games. (2010). Consumer spending in US, UK, GER, FR, NL & BE.

Mayo Clinic. (2012). Childhood obesity - Complications