The effect of a school-based active video game intervention on children’s aerobic fitness, physical activity level, and exercise-related psychological variables: A preliminary RCT trial

W.C. Lau*, S. Zhang, R. Maddison

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of the prescribed AVG intervention in the physiological, behavioral and psychological perspectives.

    Methods: 40 children aged 9–10 were recruited at a local primary school in Hong Kong and were assigned randomly into control and intervention group. Children in the intervention group participated in two 60 minutes XBOX 360 gaming session per week for 12 weeks. The intervention was held in a large function room that allowed all children played at the same time and XBOX Sport Season One & Two that provided 12 different games of sports with light-to-moderate intensity were at children’s free choice. Baseline and post-tests were conducted in both groups, measuring BMI, aerobic fitness, PA level (using accelerometer), exercise-related self-efficacy, and enjoyment. ANCOVA was employed to determine the post-intervention outcomes while controlling for the baseline data, with significant level set at 0.05.

    Results: Data analysis revealed three major results: 1) children in the intervention group significantly outperformed those in the control group at post-test in aerobic fitness and average daily total physical activity (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively); 2) children in the intervention group marginally outperformed those in the control group in average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (p = 0.08); 3) no significant differences were ob- served between intervention and control group at post-test in BMI, exercise-related self-efficacy, and enjoyment in physical activity (p > 0.05).

    Conclusion: The prescribed AVG intervention provided an effective alternative in promoting children’s aerobic fitness and physical activity in school setting.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numberT7:PO.075
    Pages (from-to)145
    Number of pages1
    JournalObesity Facts
    Volume8
    Issue numberSuppl. 1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2015
    Event22nd European Congress on Obesity, ECO2015 - Prague, Czech Republic
    Duration: 6 May 20159 May 2015
    https://karger.com/ofa/article/8/Suppl.%201/1/239963/22nd-European-Congress-on-Obesity-ECO2015-Prague

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