DETROIT – Tiffany Roberson hopes exergaming will help her lose a few pounds. She's a high school senior and participant in a study focused on the impact of dance exergaming on overweight and obese teen girls.
"Because it's fun, it'll help me stick to exercise," said Roberson.
Exergaming is short for exercise video games. Sales of these games are projected to reach $40 billion this year and researchers are trying to find out if they can be an effective weapon against childhood obesity.
"We'll be able to tell whether gaming actually affects their weight and their health," said Amanda Staiano, Ph.D., a researcher at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Staiano said exergaming can offer exercise and a social component that may help teens stick with it.
"We find, especially with African-American girls, that dance is a fun way to get together in a group of friends, that often times the girls will kind of forget that they're exercising, because they just enjoy the dance and the movement," said Staiano.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80 percent of all Americans don't get enough exercise and 40 percent report they never exercise. Going to the gym to work out is a big commitment, and one, most people don't keep after their resolution resolve fades away.
Tamara Rogers, of Farmington Hills, works out at the gym, but can also see the benefits of exergaming.
"You can do it at any time. You can get up early and do it, you can do it after the kids go to bed," said Rogers. "Whatever gets people moving, I say I'm all for it."
But when it comes to burning calories, how do these pulse-pounding exergames stack up to regular exercise?
Researchers said a moderate three-mile per hour walk burns 120 calories per half-hour. Dancing with a video game burns 159 calories in 30 minutes. Boxing tallies 216 calories, tennis 159, bowling 117 and golf burns 93 calories per half-hour.
Experts caution, as with traditional exercise, the benefits of exergaming depend on the intensity and how often you do it. If you don't put in the effort, you won't see the results.
So which dance games are best? Here's a breakdown of some of the most popular options evaluated by Ivanhoe.com:
- Zumba Fitness -- This game burns calories just as well as any of the real classes do and you will be learning steps commonly used in Zumba classes.
- Just Dance 2 -- This version comes with over 40 new songs. It burns a high number of calories and even provides some toning benefits. Up to four people can play, and you get to laugh at your animated friends in this sequel.
- EA Sports Active 2 -- This game lets you create your own workouts to target upper body, lower body or both. It also lets you track your progress with the 30 Day Challenge.
- Gold's Gym Dance Workout -- This game is an ideal option. Before you start each song, it gives you an estimate of how many calories you will burn during the dance.
Roberson admits she doesn't like traditional exercises, but she's committed to dance her way to a healthier life.
"I just want to feel healthier. I think it'll help me better with every aspect, you know, like school, just how I feel about myself, you know, I just think it'll help," said Roberson.