Step inside the living room of the Nitzberg family and you'll notice that it looks more like a workout session than family t.v. time. "You are just jumping all over, and your arms are flying widely" says 12 year old Maya Nitzberg. "I like boxing a lot because you are going backwards and you're punching a lot, and blocking," says 10 year old Sam Nitzberg.
Major toy and technology companies continue to invent interactive video games that are promising to turn your kid from couch potato to active moving, jumping, swinging, game player.
"We are up off the couch, no longer are we sitting around just pressing buttons, people are playing Wii boxing and actually losing weight, kids are no longer wasting away, sitting around button pressing, they are playing tennis, they are actually bowling, they are playing baseball," says Amber McCollom of Nintendo of America. But, while these new interactive games continue to fly off the shelves, medical experts caution parents. ?Thirty percent of our kids are overweight, and we're not talking about morbidly obese, we're talking about overweight, which is very very significant. It is encouraging them to be more physically active, that can't hurt but, on the other hand my concern is it may be getting them more and more addicted to video games,? explains weight loss specialist, Dr. Ibrahim Ibrahim of Englewood Hospital.
Dr. Ibrahim says parental supervision plays a critical role. And, when it comes to using these interactive games as fitness tools, whether or not kids will really benefit and get into shape has yet to be determined.
?The concept is good and accurate and correct, whether it is going to work out that way I am not sure, I don't think we have enough studies or track records to say this is what is going to happen,? says Dr. Ibrahim. Other "exergames" as they're often referred to, include stationary video game bikes, snowboards and virtual soccer; they're even popping up in physical education classes and other private gyms for kids across the country.
There are various reasons why kids these days love video games. One of these reasons would be the employment of comical characters and vibrant colors which undeniably looks attractive to the young ones. You might have also observed how they would flock in front of the monitor and laugh excitedly as if they are watching an early cartoon morning show every time they see a video game displayed on screen. And for them, knowing that you can control these characters through a game controller pad is even more exciting. That is why every time you turn on your game console they go crazy and tend to grab the controller from your hand. You can not blame them for reacting this way. As kids, it is part of their nature to be playful. When they have the controller on their little hands, they imagine themselves playing with the characters on screen.
A child is naturally curious. It is through playing that he discovers and learns how the world reacts when introduced with certain stimuli. The video games offer him an area to discover all these things. That is why parents should also be careful in choosing the right games for their children. But since children have a natural attraction to games, parents can be able to use video games to educate their children. In fact there are a lot of informative video games out there which will help the young kids to have fun and learn at the same time.
Although kids are not capable of doing things on their own yet, their mind is basically oozing with creativity. They tend to find and do things that their little bodies can handle just to be able to express themselves. Video games and the kid's creativity and active imagination are coherent and complementary with each other. The video game serves as an outlet for the child's creative side.
One more reason why kids love video games is that they love to bond with us. They feel that if they get involve in such activity, they are being one with us. In other words, they just wanted to belong and to tell us that they want to play a game and have fun with us. It does not matter if they lose or win the game as long as the people around him is also having fun, that is what really matters to him.
If you want to show your appreciation to your child, buy a video game for him this holiday. It does not have to be the most expensive ones. There are a lot of cheap video game or used ones for sale. There are websites out there like squidoo.com that can tell you where to get such video games. Just make sure that the games that you are getting for your child is the one which is suitable for him. You can refer on the labels rating to find out which one would be perfect for him to play and have fun with.
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