WASHINGTON - Why fight the proliferation of video games if you can use
them to improve people's health?
Health researchers are looking at ways that people's obsession with video games
might be put to good use. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced Thursday
it will give a dozen research teams up to $200,000 each for studies lasting one
to two years.
The projects will measure the effects of playing video games on the young and
old. For example:
-Researchers at Cornell University will study how a mobile phone game rewarding
healthy eating and exercise will influence children's behaviour.
-Researchers at the University of Florida will monitor how playing Playstation
2's "Crazy Taxi" affects perception in the elderly.
-Researchers at the University of South Carolina will investigate the potential
for using video games such as Wii and EyeToy to help people recover their motor
skills after experiencing a stroke.
For better or worse, video games teach through reinforcement. What health
researchers want to do is find ways to reinforce healthy behaviours instead of
unhealthy ones.
"A good game, or a game where you could actually learn some skills or develop
some self-confidence could displace some of the more time-wasting video games
that are out there. That could be a win-win in many ways," said Debra Lieberman
of the University of California at Santa Barbara, who oversees the university's
health games research.
Video games are often seen as the purview of the young, but several of the
projects will investigate how adults can benefit. For example, at Union College
in New York, researchers will monitor how participating on a virtual cycling
team influences exercise behaviours and health outcomes for people age 50 and
older.
"The neat thing about a video game is that it involves a challenge to reach a
goal. That's why we get hooked on games. That's why we love to play them,"
Lieberman said. "We're always striving to do better and better."
