The Nintendo Wii: A Combatant Of Childhood Obesity

According to the CDC, childhood obesity has been on the rise for two decades. It has currently topped out at approximately 18%, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. At the same time, approximately 75% of U.S. adults are overweight. While some of this can be attributed to higher consumption of fatty foods and soft drinks, the bulk probably has more to do with inactivity. nn When Generation X was growing up, they were expected to play outside with friends and participate in sports. That quickly died out with Generation Y. In this day and age, children are going outside less and playing video games and using their computers more, becoming less active than children their age several decades ago. Until now, video games have largely been a fairly passive activity, resulting in few calories burned.nn Nutrition has also declined, with fast food and sugar consumption on the rise, largely due to more and more demands being placed on our time. Burning off calories while playing traditional video games is next to impossible. Until now, enter the Wii.nn Now for the first time you can combine video games with a high degree of activity, resulting in more calories burned and healthier kids. Wii is the new interactive video game system from Nintendo. Rather than sitting down with a remote control, the user must stand and mimic the actions that he wishes to complete on the screen. New studies are showing that Wii games such as boxing, aerobics, bowling and tennis, are helping users to get much needed exercise while still enjoying video games.nnTraditionally, video gaming systems are expensive, as are the games that must be purchased seperately. In today’s economy, setting up a Wii system can be a burden on a family’s pocketbook. However, there are sites out there that can help you set up your Wii exercise system for relatively low costs so you can turn the tables on obesity in your home. For more information on Wii Products and Obesity, visit www.markdownmall.com.n