Nintendo Wii Fit Doesn't Benefit Family Fitness?

The Nintendo Wii Fit apparently doesn't carry as much health value for the family as a whole as some might have suggested according to an extensive set of research published by scholars at the University of Mississippi.

Eight families were provided with a Nintendo Wii gaming console together with a Wii Fit ensemble to check to what extent such a consumer-friendly system could benefit the fitness of an average family.

The six month research involved tracking how the families performed over the period and it was found that the time spent with the Nintendo solution fell down by a whopping 82 percent from 22 minutes to four minutes.

It was no surprise therefore that the study concluded that "Modest amounts of daily Wii Fit use may have provided insufficient stimulus for fitness changes". But reading between the lines of the press release, it appears as if the children were more likely to use the console more.

The researchers even say that the younger ones "did display a significant increase in aerobic fitness after three months of use"; the onus could therefore be on the older to do a bit more exercise.

Ironically, doctors are warning middle-aged parents that they must warm up properly before trying to play games that might put their body under stress; many of which are found on the Wii.

The UK government has already officially adopted the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus saying that it helps maintain a better shape and health as part of a structured exercise scheme.