Estimating Energy Expenditure in Active Video Gaming Compared to Unstructured, Outdoor Play in Children

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Motor Activity

In brief

The increasing use of sedentary screen-based activities (SBAs) has been most recently blamed for children and adolescents' lack of engagement in physical activity (PA). Studies indicate a large portion of children participate high-levels of sedentary SBAs and the sedentary SBAs appear to compete for time to engage in PA. If sedentary behavior is a substitute for PA, to help increase PA, strategies need to be put into place that helps to decrease sedentary behaviors. One modification to sedentary videogames that may increase PA in children is to alter sedentary videogames so that the videogames actually provide an option to engage in PA, rather than to be sedentary. These types of games then don't compete with PA, but actually are a source of PA. These types of videogames are called active video games (AVG) or "Exer-gaming." Previous research demonstrates that energy-expenditure (EE) in AVG play is comparable to moderate-intensity walking and produce greater EE than sedentary SBAs. However, previous studies have been limited to measuring EE in AVG play to walking either on a treadmill or in a structured setting. Studies have not investigated the EE of AVG play compared to the EE in free-living outdoor play. Thus, the purpose of the proposed study is to determine whether a greater EE is released during AVG play compared to free-living, outdoor play in children.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01430715

Run by

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

People needed

16

Starts

2011-07-01

Expected to finish

2011-10-01

Last updated by the study team

2018-04-05

Who can join

Age: 5 and older, up to 8. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• All children between 5- to 8- years of age and enrolled in the ELC, with parental consent can participate. Children must be healthy, with an absence of any known cardiopulmonary, metabolic, or orthopedic disease condition or ailment that would limit their participation in the study. Also, children with any type of grass allergy and sensitivity to sunlight will not be included in the study. Additionally, children must be of healthy weight with a body mass index (BMI)-for-age percentile between, > 5th % to < 85th %. Eligible children must also agree to be observed during outdoor activity and while playing the video game.

You may not qualify if…

• Children who are not between 5- to 8- years of age and those who are not enrolled in the ELC, and do not obtain parental consent will not be allowed to participate. Children must be healthy, those with any known cardiopulmonary, metabolic, or orthopedic disease condition or aliment that would limit their physical activity, cannot participate in the study. Also, children with any type of grass allergy and sensitivity to sunlight will not be included in the study. Additionally, children must be of healthy weight with a body mass index (BMI)-for-age percentile between, > 5% to < 85%. Children above or below the healthy weight criteria (body mass index (BMI)-for-age percentile below the 5th percentile or above the 85th percentile), will be ineligible and not be able to participate in the study. Eligible children must also agree to be observed during outdoor activity and video-recorded while playing the video game, those children who do not agree to be observed cannot participate in the research study.

Where it is running

• The Early Learning Center — Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.