Table 2 Intervention and Control Characteristics, Outcomes, Follow-up Time Points and Key Findings for Studies Investigating the Effects of Active Video Games
Authors & year | Interventions | Intervention intensity & duration | All outcomes | Follow-up time points | Key findings | Weight-related outcomes | Between group mean difference | P-value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(95% CI) | ||||||||
Adamo et al., 2010 | 1) GameBike - interactive video game and stationary cycling 2) Stationary cycling to music | Twice weekly 60-min sessions for 10 weeks | 1) Exercise adherence and behaviour 2) Aerobic fitness 3) Body composition 4) Metabolic profile 5) Diet | Post treatment | - The music group attended a statistically significantly higher percentage of sessions compared to the video game group (92 vs. 86, p < 0.05) - Minutes spent at vigorous intensity (24.9 ± 20 vs. 13.7 ± 12.8, p < 0.05) and average distance (km) pedalled per session (12.5 ± 2.8 vs. 10.2 ± 2.2, p < 0.05) were statistically significantly greater in the music group - No difference in all other outcomes between groups - Both groups had a statistically significant reduction in peak HR, an improvement in peak workload and a reduction in time to exhaustion from pre to post intervention (p < 0.05) | BMI (kg/m2) | −3.9 (− 11.1, 3.3) | 0.3 |
BMI percentile | - 0.3 (− 1.89, 1.29) | 0.74 | ||||||
Body weight (kg) | −13.1 (− 30.52, 4.32) | 0.15 | ||||||
WC (cm) | −4.3 (− 16.46, 7.86) | 0.53 | ||||||
% BF | 1.4 (−6.24, 9.04) | 0.72 | ||||||
Maddison et al., 011 | 1) Active video games 2) Sedentary video games | Children were encouraged to play for 60 min most days of the week, for a period of 24 week | 1)Weight 2) BMI 3) BMI z-score 4) % BF 5) WC 6)PA 7) Cardiorespiratory fitness 8) Video game play 9) Food snacking | 12 and 24 weeks | At 24 weeks, statistically significantly more children in the intervention group than the control group had: - decreased their BMI (−0.24, p = 0.02), BMI z-score (− 0.06, p = 0.04), BF % (− 0.83, p = 0.02) and body weight (− 0.72, p = 0.02) - increased average daily time of active video game play (10.03, p = 0.0001) - no difference in all other outcomes between groups | BMI (kg/m2) | −0.24 (− 0.44, − 0.04) | 0.02 |
BMI z-score | 0.06 (−0.12, − 0.03) | 0.03 | ||||||
Body weight (kg) | −0.72 (−1.33, − 0.10) | 0.02 | ||||||
WC (cm) | −1.21 (−2.45, 0.03) | 0.22 | ||||||
% BF | −0.83 (−1.54, − 0.12) | 0.02 | ||||||
Staiano et al., 2017 | 1) Group-based dance exergaming 2) Self-directed care control condition | Three 1-h sessions per week for 12 weeks | 1) Body composition: BMI percentile, BMI z-score, WC, %BF, regional BF, visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adiposity 2) Cardiovascular risk factors | Within 2.5 weeks post-intervention | - There were no statistically significant group differences in any body composition or cardiovascular risk factor outcome | BMI z-score | −0.01 (− 0.069, 0.049) | 0.74 |
BMI percentile | −0.02 (− 0/78, 0.39) | 0.51 | ||||||
WC (cm) | −0.04 (−3.37, 3.29) | 0.98 | ||||||
% BF | −0.3 (−1.28, 0.68) | 0.55 | ||||||
Trost et al., 2014 | 1) Paediatric weight management programme plus active video gaming 2) Programme only | 16 weeks Intensity not stated | 1) Daily moderate-to-vigorous and vigorous PA 2) % overweight 3) BMI z-score | 8 and 16 weeks | - At week 16, compared to the programme only group, the programme plus active video gaming group had statistically significant increases in moderate-to-vigorous (8.0, p = 0.04) and vigorous (3.1, p = 0.02) PA - At week 16, both groups had statistically significant reductions in % overweight and BMI z-score but the programme plus active gaming group had statistically significantly greater reductions (−10.9, p = 0.02),(−0.25, p < 0.001) | BMI z-score | −0.16 (− 0.19, − 0.13) | < 0.001 |
Wagener et al., 2012 | 1) Group dance-based exergaming programme 2) Wait-list control group | 3 sessions a week for 10 weeks: 1st session: 40 min 2nd and 3rd session: 75 min each | 1) BMI z-scores 2) Self-reported psychological adjustment and perceived competence to exercise 3) Maternal reported adolescent psychological adjustment | 10 weeks | - Compared with control group, participants in the dance-based exergaming group statistically significantly increased in self-reported perceived competence to exercise - Maternal report of adolescent externalizing and internalizing symptomatology also decreased from baseline to end-of-treatment - No differences in BMI z-score within or between conditions | BMI-z score | 0.01 (−0.12, 0.13) | 0.87 |