Active Video Games for Improving Mental Health and Physical Fitness—An Alternative for Children and Adolescents during Social Isolation: An Overview

The aim of this study was to synthesize the evidence on the effects of active video games (AVGs) on mental health, physical fitness and body composition of children and adolescents. A search was conducted in the following databases: PubMed; MEDLINE (by Ovid); SportDiscus, Cochrane library systematic reviews (CENTRAL) and EMBASE with no language restrictions during October 2020. Reviews on the use of AVGs were included in the study. We use the AMSTAR (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews) scale to analyze the methodological quality of the studies. Seventeen systematic reviews and meta-analyzes were included on the effects of AVGs with 30 to 4728 children and adolescents of both sexes with ages ranging from 6 to 19 years. In five studies, the population was overweight or obese. Regarding the quality, 12 studies were of moderate quality, two had high quality, two had low quality and one showed very low quality. The analyzed data indicate that the use of AVGs with a frequency of 1 to 3 times a week with durations of between 10 and 90 min per day shows positive effects on mental health and physical functioning. There was moderate quality evidence that AVGs can result in benefits for self-esteem, increased energy expenditure, physical activity and reduced body mass index in children and adolescents who used AVGs in the home environment. Further research is needed on this tool to help in the process of social isolation and consequently in promoting health and well-being.

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The Effects of Active Video Games on Health-Related Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Children and Adolescents with Healthy Weight: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18136965 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (13) ◽

pp. 6965

Author(s):

Cristina Comeras-Chueca ◽

Jorge Marin-Puyalto ◽

Angel Matute-Llorente ◽

German Vicente-Rodriguez ◽

Jose A. Casajus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Motor Competence ◽

Muscular Fitness ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video ◽

Health Related

(1) Background: Poor levels of physical fitness and motor skills are problems for today’s children. Active video games (AVG) could be an attractive strategy to help address them. The aim was to investigate the effects of AVG on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with healthy weight. (2) Methods: Randomized and non-randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of AVG programs on health-related physical fitness and motor competence were included. Two different quality assessment tools were used to measure the risk of bias. Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria and the variables of interest were body mass index (BMI), body fat, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness and motor competence. (3) Results: AVG interventions seem to have benefits in BMI when lasting longer than 18 weeks (SMD, −0.590; 95% IC, −1.071, −0.108) and in CRF (SMD, 0.438; 95% IC, 0.022, 0.855). AVG seems to be a promising tool to improve muscular fitness and motor competence but the effects are still unclear due to the lack of evidence. (4) Conclusions: AVG seem to be an effective tool for improving some components of health-related physical fitness and motor competence in healthy-weight children and adolescents, but the effect on some fitness components needs further research. Therefore, AVG may be included as a strategy to improve health.

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Can Active Video Games Improve Physical Activity in Adolescents? A Review of RCT

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17020669 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 669 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Wanda M. Williams ◽

Cynthia G. Ayres

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Video Games ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Physical Exertion ◽

The United States ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

United States Department ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video ◽

The Cochrane Library

Children and adolescents are not meeting the required federal physical activity (PA) guidelines established by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It is critical that a regular pattern of PA is established in their youth to ensure ongoing PA into adulthood. However, many programs implemented during adolescence have shown limited effects, stressing the need for more innovative approaches to generate more interest and maintenance of PA behavior in this age group. Active video games (AVGs) or exergaming may prove to be an innovate process to improve PA in children and adolescents. A literature review was conducted to explore if active video games or exergaming could be an effective intervention to improve physical activity in adolescents. Active video games, also called “exergames”, are a category of video games that require movement or physical exertion to play the game. The methodology consisted of searching Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, ERIC, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Inclusion criteria involved only youth aged 12 to 19 years, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and studies within the last 12 years. The following search terms were used: exergaming or active video games; physical activity or exercise; adolescents or youth; RCT or randomized clinical trial. The outcome indicates that exergaming or active video games can be an effective tool to improve PA in adolescents that will be more acceptable and sustainable than many conventional approaches.

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The effects of active video games on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in overweight or obese children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (Preprint)

JMIR Serious Games ◽

10.2196/29981 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cristina Comeras-Chueca ◽

Jorge Marin-Puyalto ◽

Angel Matute-Llorente ◽

German Vicente-Rodriguez ◽

Jose Antonio Casajus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Video Games ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Obese Children ◽

Motor Competence ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video ◽

Health Related

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Effects of active video games on children and adolescents: A systematic review with meta‐analysis

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports ◽

10.1111/sms.13539 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 4-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Crystian B. Oliveira ◽

Rafael Z. Pinto ◽

Bruna T. C. Saraiva ◽

William R. Tebar ◽

Leandro D. Delfino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Video Games ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video

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The effects of active video games on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in overweight or obese children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.29981 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cristina Comeras-Chueca ◽

Jorge Marin-Puyalto ◽

Angel Matute-Llorente ◽

German Vicente-Rodriguez ◽

Jose Antonio Casajus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Video Games ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Body Fat Percentage ◽

Fat Percentage ◽

Motor Competence ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video ◽

Health Related

BACKGROUND Childhood obesity is one of the most important public health problems of the 21st century and active-video games have been proposed as a good alternative to exercise and are being investigated to find out their effectiveness against childhood obesity. OBJECTIVE to summarize the current research and extract conclusions about the effects of active video games on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. METHODS The search strategy was applied to PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus, including randomized and non-randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of programs using active video games on health-related physical fitness and motor competence of children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. Two different quality assessment tools were used to measure the risk of bias for randomized and non-randomized controlled trials. Fifteen articles met the inclusion criteria and the variables of interest were body mass index, body fat percentage, cardiorespiratory fitness, waist circumference, fat-free mass, muscular fitness and motor competence. A meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS Positive effects were found for body mass index and body fat percentage, favouring the active video games group compared with a control group with no intervention (MD, -0.209; 95% IC, -0.388, -0.031; an d MD, -0.879; 95% IC, -1.138, -0.602, respectively). Positive effects seem to be found for cardiorespiratory fitness. The effects of interventions with active video games on muscular fitness, fat-free mass and waist circumference and motor competence are unclear. CONCLUSIONS Programs using active video games showed positive effects on body mass index, body fat percentage and cardiorespiratory fitness. Active video games could be a good strategy to fight against childhood obesity. CLINICALTRIAL A protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, PROSPERO (CRD42020189138).

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Effect of Active Video Games on Healthy Children’s Fundamental Motor Skills and Physical Fitness: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17218264 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (21) ◽

pp. 8264

Author(s):

Wenxi Liu ◽

Nan Zeng ◽

Daniel J. McDonough ◽

Zan Gao

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Effective Means ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Object Control ◽

Fundamental Motor Skills ◽

Active Video Games ◽

Active Video ◽

Quasi Experimental

Objective: The present study aimed to synthesize the most updated literature regarding the casual evidence of the effects of active video games (AVGs) on fundamental motor skills (FMS; locomotor skills and object control skills) and physical fitness among healthy children. Methods: Electronic databases were searched through October 2020. Peer-reviewed randomized control trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental designs examining the effectiveness of AVGs on FMS and physical fitness development among healthy children (3–12 years) were screened. Results: A total of nine RCTs and one quasi-experimental study were included. Of the five studies examining the effect of AVGs on FMS, two reported significant improvements, while three reported no significant improvements in motor skills development as compared to control. Of the five studies assessing the effects of AVGs on physical fitness, four reported significant improvements in physical fitness such as balance, agility, and speed, whereas one reported significant improvements in skill-related executive function, but not in physical competence. Conclusions: Overall, the current available evidence supports AVGs as an effective means to improve physical fitness, such as balance, postural stability, and agility, among healthy children. However, the findings of AVGs on healthy children’s object control and locomotor skills remain inconclusive.

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