It’s more than exercise, more fun than working out, less aggravating than hitting the gym, and much easier to get motivated. It’s the Nintendo® Wii™ Fit and it is working its way to your LSU campus encouraging you to get stimulated and get moving!
The LSU College of Education Department of Kinesiology is in the initial stages of a study looking at how motivation and physical activity are related and an unusual, new way to get people moving. The Nintendo® Wii™Fit, one of the newest additions to its original Wii™video game, is the basis of this study and is serving as an innovative tool to encourage people to be more active. As students everywhere continue to talk about it, LSU Kinesiology brings the Nintendo® Wii™ Fit on campus to test students and evaluate results of how it can affect the aspiration for physical activity.
The Nintendo® Wii™ Fit consists of more than 40 activities including strength training, aerobics, yoga, and balance games. “These games are designed to promote physical fitness. We want to know if they actually succeed in doing this,” Alex Garn, College of Education Department of Kinesiology Assistant Professor says.
Motivation is a key factor in this study. Garn states, “With more than 60 percent of the population not taking part in physical activity, we want to see how the Nintendo® Wii™ Fit affects people’s motivation to become active.” The Nintendo® Wii™ Fit game helps overcome some of the barriers that cause people not to engage in physical activity? How will it affect motivation?
“Currently in the piloting phase, our first step is to observe how active participants are when they’re engaged in Wii™ activities,” says fellow researcher and College of Education Roy Paul Daniels Professor in Kinesiology Melinda Solmon.
Solmon added, “Acceler-ometers will be used to measure activity counts as well as attaining objective data involving the level of activity people achieve and whether they reach a moderate to vigorous level while playing Wii™ games.”
This research will be evaluated, compiled, and possibly published in health behavior-type journals. Solmon added, “Some other possibilities might include working with Nintendo® to assess local school children and gain the opportunity to promote physical activity in schools by offering Nintendo® Wii™ Fit games and activities to school children.”
In the initial phase, LSU students are the primary participants that will be used for this study. As the study continues to grow and move forward, it will expand to include other populations. Garn states, “We are looking forward to including local populations, because in reaching out we also hope to get the community more physically active.”
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