Adam Wedekind of Annapolis, Maryland was an active active child growing up, but the pressures of high school sports were enough to keep him from trying out. Instead, he turned to video games. This new, inactive lifestyle coupled with a poor diet led to severe weight gain, which left Adam the subject of frequent bullying.

To apease his parents Adam, now 22, tried to keep up his grades up so they couldn’t complain about his new hobby. He became so entranced with gaming that he drew away from all his friends and turned to people he met playing online video games for social interaction. He loved that he could be whoever he wanted online.

Post high school Adam went onto vocal college and kept up his gaming habits, which caused him to neglect his studies and eventually drop out. At that point he moved to Ohio to escape from his failures.

In 2009 Adam re-enrolled in college but still wasn’t dedicated to school and his grades suffered because of it. Despite his struggles, Adam’s mom continued to still support him. But even that encouragement left him at an all-time low.

“I hit a point where I didn’t want to leave my room.” said Adam. “I didn’t want to do anything, I played video games and I didn’t have any friends. I just sat in my room and I had no reason to leave. I was so depressed I even had suicidal thoughts.”
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Apparently even today’s top of the line technology is no match for old fashioned bike riding and classic outdoor play. A new study revealed that “active” video games won’t actually make a kid more active.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that children and teens should get at least one hour of physical activity every day. Previously, it was believed that “active” video games could assist in increasing a child’s activity level.

Recently researchers tested this theory. Seventy-eight children were given Wii consoles and were monitored for 12 weeks. Half of the children in the study were given games like “Wii Fit Plus” and “Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 3.” These are considered active games. The other half of the children were given “inactive” games like “Mario Kart Wii” or “Madden NFL 10.”

The children kept journals of their play time over the 12 weeks. They also wore accelerometers to measure their acceleration and exertion. The conclusion showed that the active game group was no more physically active than the inactive game group. The researchers thought there might have at least been an initial spike in physical activity at the beginning of the study, however they found that there were no differences throughout the entire study.

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Kids are heavier than ever and get too little exercise, as school physical fitness has nearly evaporated and home activities revolve around computer games. So, to ensure that the computer time is extraordinarily bad for kids’ health, Activision and Pepsi have teamed up in a cross-promotion from Hell.

Activision and Pepsi have come up with “Rank Up XP,” a cross-promotional deal that is implemented via the new video game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The offer goes like this: When gamers buy certain Pepsi products, such as Mountain Dew or Doritos, they get redeemable codes to use for “Double XP time” in Call of Duty. Since I’m not familiar with the game, I can only say that it gives people a distinct advantage (presumably in Internet play?).
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As you might suspect, if children play videos games to excess, they may be more apt to being overweight. The logical conclusion would be that it’s because they are sitting on their keesters and not outside breaking a sweat in the front yard with their friends.

While that might be true to some extent, the focus of new research is on what they put in their mouth while they are in the midst of their video game playing. According to new research, adolescent boys will eat more when they are playing video games, even if they aren’t hungry- the definition of mindless eating.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, makes a direct link between kids’ gaming habits and overeating.

Lead researcher Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada and his colleagues had 22 normal-weight teenage boys play video games for an hour. They also had some kids just sit for an hour. In each situation, they watched the children eat their lunch.
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Now you can get the Biggest Loser workout by playing Kinect for XBox 360. You don’t even have to travel to the ranch! The new fitness game is called The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout, and does not require any additional controls. The game features workout with Biggest Loser trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. If you hate working out at the gym, and would prefer to get fit from the comfort of your home, this game is a great option for you.

Fans of The Biggest Loser can use the game to achieve their weight-loss and fitness goals with features like body analysis, tracking and healthy recipes. You can even keep a video diary of your workout progress, just like contestants on the show. You can further customize your workout to suit your age, weight, physical ability and target areas with over 125 different exercises. Users can even incorporate wights, and resistance bands into their fitness routines.

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