Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Calculating Heart Rate Variability from ECG Data from Youth with Cerebral Palsy During Active Video Game Sessions
Published on: June 5, 2019
The Influence of Active Gaming on Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Black and Hispanic Youth
Rachel M Flynn1, Amanda E Staiano2, Robbie Beyl3
1Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 633 North St. Clair, Chicago, IL 60611.
Background:
Youth in the United States have low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, a risk factor for childhood obesity. Lower levels of physical fitness for black and Hispanic youth contribute to health disparities. In this feasibility study, we examined active video games (AVGs) as a tool to improve fitness and attitudes toward physical activity during early adolescence.
Method:
A 6-week AVG program took place in a youth development program in a high-poverty neighborhood in New York City. Youth aged 10 to 15 years (50% overweight or obese) participated in 2 fitness tests and completed surveys that captured barriers to physical activity pre- and postintervention. Each week, participants played Wii Fit games for 30 minutes.
Results:
Participants improved the number of sit-ups and step-ups they completed from pre- to postintervention (p < .05). Participants also increased their self-efficacy, intention to exercise and perceived social support to exercise (p < .05). Youth reported a high level of enjoyment and perceived Wii Fit as ways to increase physical fitness and increase their physical activity.
Conclusion:
AVGs may be a viable alternative exercise program to increase physical activity for black and Hispanic youth living in poverty-impacted neighborhoods.
Related Concept Videos
Induced-fit Model
Enzymes exhibit substrate specificity, meaning that they can only bind to certain substrates. This is mainly determined by the shape and chemical...
Inclusive Fitness
Goodness-of-Fit Test
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Social Foundations of Self I: Play and Game
Expected Frequencies in Goodness-of-Fit Tests

