Sport And Exercise Not Working For Today's Kids

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 29 May 2008 - 4:00 PDT


"The traditional panacea to combat childhood obesity has always been centered on sports and traditional fitness exercises. In my opinion, this strategy has simply not worked," stated Jim Teatum former head of the US fitness giant Nautilus. "Sport and fitness, whatever form they may take, by nature discriminate against the overweight, deconditioned, and uncoordinated. By perpetuating a feeling of low self esteem, they actually discourage these children from becoming fit."

Teatum continued: "How successful have traditional solutions been? The answer is that in the last 20 years the prevalence of obesity has more than doubled in children, nearly tripled in teenagers, and two thirds of the adult population is overweight, as reported by the US Centers for Disease Control. The cause is the choice kids make in their diet and physical activities. Inactivity has increased as the technology of Game Boy, Xbox and computer games have become part of the youth culture, resulting in an average of thirty hours per week of sedentary 'screen time'".

Southern California company XerGames Technology Inc. is working to turn the problem into the solution. By integrating today's technology with activity solutions called exergames, the company is generating huge participation in physical activities by previously inactive children and teenagers. Dr. Kyle McInnis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, concurred, stating that "…exergaming is what today's kids want to do, not have to do…" and this has been substantiated by McInnis' recent study that clearly indicates an 84% adherence exercise rate among 8 - 12 year olds when the fitness program included playing XerGames' Sportwall® games.

Additional benefits found by Harvard University's Dr. John Ratey include improvement in cognitive ability, directly leading to improved reading skills. Further studies in the Kansas City School District by PE4Life have also quantified significant improvement in the behavior of kids who participate in exergaming sessions, with a 59% reduction in incidents of violence and a 67% reduction in "out of school" suspensions after the introduction of XerGames' products.

"We believe exergaming provides today's exercise solution for today's kids. The research suggests that exergames can provide the ultimate brain and body work out," said Teatum, currently the Chief Marketing Officer of XerGames Technology Inc.

"XerGames has equipped over 1,000 facilities in the USA, and now schools and leisure centers in the UK and Europe are quickly embracing the trend, especially with the introduction of our new multiplayer XerDance™," said Cathi Lamberti, CEO of XerGames Technology Inc. "XerGames is enjoying over a 200% growth rate, year on year, even in today's sluggish economy."

About XerGames Technology Inc.

Sportwall International Inc. does business as XerGames Technology Inc. The company manufactures, markets, distributes, sells and supports exergame equipment, a new paradigm in training and fitness equipment that marries computer game technology with exercise. The company packages its products with XerGames™ programming and with curricula for cardiovascular fitness, neurological efficiency, core strength, speed, agility, and motor skills training, to offer fully turnkey commercial systems to the fitness, physical education, and medical/rehabilitation industries located throughout the world.

Sportwall International Inc.

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