What is Exercise Programs

The objective of this chapter is a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to quantify the effectiveness of active videogames (AVGs) as obesity prevention interventions aimed at children and adolescents. The method is studies were included that focused on children or adolescents (=18 years), assessed BMI as the outcome measure, used one or more AVGs as intervention, employed a controlled experimental design, used BMI as an outcome measure, enrolled participants up to and including 18 years of age, and comprised original studies. Employing these inclusion criteria, nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results are active videogames had a small to medium-sized and significant average effect on children and adolescents: Hedges' g = 0.38 (95% CI: 0.00 - 0.77). Heterogeneity was substantial (I2 = .91) but neither participants' weight status, nor sample size, intervention duration or dropout moderated the effect of AVGs. The conclusion of this chapter is the results of this meta-analysis provide preliminary evidence that active videogames can decrease BMI among children/adolescents.