Video Game Teaches Healthy Eating, Discourages Slothfulness
For children, the best solution for battling obesity isn't surgically stapling a Roker ring to their stomachs, but rather educating them about exercise and healthy eating habits early on. That's the idea behind a new child-friendly video game aimed at quick-learning kids. Why quick-learning? Because the game only lets them play for 20 minutes at a time before requiring a 60 minute break. 'The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective,' funded by mega-HMO Kaiser Permanente, tasks kids with objectives that teach them about foods and exercise, then boots them offline after 20 minutes to hopefully force them to go get less of the former and more of the latter.
There are online challenges in both English and Spanish that have kids solving in-game puzzles, like why one character's energy levels are spiking and crashing and (spoiler alert!) how healthier snacks are the solution. There are also printable scavenger hunts that kids can take with them if they can't get enough of the online version. The game is a move by Kaiser to try and reduce childhood obesity rates, which currently stand at a whopping 20 percent.
The game is available gratis on the Web sites of both Kaiser Permanente and the CDC. It will also be distributed to 5,000 schools nationwide.
If the kids are looking for something to do during the game's mandatory 60-minute recess -- and they're not fans of the outdoors -- might we recommend augmenting the curriculum with such blubber-burning video games as 'Wii Sports,' 'Dance Dance Revolution' and the upcoming 'Wii Fit.'
From I4U News
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cindy said 7:11PM on 3-18-2009
Child obesity is on the rise in this country, and its dangerous health effects -- both during childhood and later in life -- are becoming increasingly well-known. We should definitely start with the adults, because kids eat whatever we offer them, and if we give them good healthy food they will eat that and remain healthy, but if we give them junk all the time, how would that affect their diet??!! you can’t blame a kid, its most of the time the parents fault, and if its not the parents" which in some cases is " its their metabolism system and for that parents should encourage their kids to excerise, join teams at school, limit time spent on the Internet and gaming, be part of a sport class and teach them how to enjoy it! I also limit my kid’s time spent on online games with Ez Internet Timer http://www.internettimer.net. Ez Internet timer is the only possible way that I know of to stop my child from going on of the internet. In other words, parents play the biggest role in that!
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Gintrelle said 3:50PM on 9-26-2007
It isn't the government's job to control childhood obesity. That is the parents' concern. The government worries about other people's children too much.
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