Nintendo Wii and Your Health

Childhood obesity is one of the major health issue and governments in the developed world are looking at ways of dealing with it. Computer games are often considered as one of the culprits, because children are not exercising and spend more time in front of computers.



Nintendo wii games are different from other computer games. Instead of just moving the fingers it encourages children to physically play action games. There are inbuilt motion sensors, which allow the player to control the characters and actions on the screen. Also, Wii remote is wand shaped which all children like. This unique concept is closely watched by other manufacturers which would lead to a healthy competition in computer games. In near future, market will be flooded with computer games that would claim to reduce certain calories if that game is played for a certain time period.



Critics say that Nintendo wii could cause physical injures. Wii syndrome is a term coined for such injuries and there are web sites which deal with such Wii syndrome. The main cause for injuries is due to over enthusiasm and aggressive involvement in the game. Nintendo says that its product is safe and fun to play. Wii passed all safety tests and it is safe to use it according to the guidelines specified by them. The Wii remote responds to minor movements and it is the player to be blamed if he/she does rigorous movements and injures himself.



If you carefully analyze the injuries that have bee reported so far, injuries to children are very minimal. Most of the injuries are reported in parents and adults who are playing along with their children or due to carelessness of the gamer. It is not a secret that as we grow old our body is not used to repetitive and unaccustomed work and most of us know we need to warm up before doing any kind of repetitive or prolonged physical activities. One thing is clear; it is our age to be blamed not the technology. On the other side this news is encouraging as most of the parents have started playing the games with children. This will help improving the bond between them and children thereby improving the family values. The games are so interesting that they encourage the adults who normally have a sedentary life style to involve and get some physical activity. Well this unique technology might be a weapon to tackle obesity in our society.



Almost all of the injuries reported are avoidable; by just following the instruction that come along with the Wii and doing some warm up exercises and giving a pause at regular intervals, it is possible to enjoy this unique and exciting technology without hurting ourselves.