Britain’s governmental Change4Life campaign made headlines last month when it premiered its ad against obesity in children. The print ad depicted a young child with a game controller in his hand with the legend “Risk an early death, just do nothing.” The ad came under fire by various video game industry companies, including Sega and Electronic Arts, one of the largest publishers of video games in the world.
However, new Change4Life television ads will air soon that take the complete opposite tack, suggesting that games be used to promote movement as part of the Department of Health’s recommended 60 active minutes per day proposal. It’s presumed that the games in question should be games like Dance Dance Revolution, or perhaps some of the Wii Fit or Wii Sports titles, where vigorous action is sometimes required to succeed.
It’s difficult to imagine that the video game industry was able to apply enough pressure on the government to cause this 180-degree turnaround in stance, but given the polar opposite nature of the decree, there doesn’t seem to be any other likely explanation. The problem is that while any exercise is better than none at all, I don’t believe that even a straight 60 minutes of DDR will bypass obesity completely.
There is more to health than just exercise — solid rest and a balanced diet are key concerns as well. And while I love and grew up playing video games, I believe it’s much more important to exercise outdoors, utilizing full range of movement and getting fresh air. Saying that it’s okay to play games as part of the 60 active minutes seems like too much of a concession to kids who would otherwise whine and complain about being parted from their beloved pastimes. But if this works, then I suppose I’m thankful. Otherwise, my initial reaction remains: fat chance.
