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Background/Objectives: Physical inactivity in children can lead to decreased physical fitness and reduced enjoyment of physical activity. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of exergaming on physical fitness, body composition and perceived enjoyment in elementary school children. Methods: Sixty-four male students (mean age 9.5 years) were randomly assigned to an exergaming group (EG, n = 32), engaging in Kinect Adventures three times a week for six months, or a control group (CG, n = 32), which continued standard physical education. Assessments were conducted pre- and post-intervention, including anthropometric measures, physical fitness tests (standing long jump, countermovement jump, sit-and-reach, 20-m sprint), aerobic fitness (20-m shuttle run), and perceived enjoyment measured with the PACES scale. Results: The EG demonstrated significant reductions in body weight, BMI, and relative fat mass compared to the CG (p < 0.01). Improvements in physical fitness were evident in EG, with increases in standing long jump distance (+12.8%; p < 0.0001), countermovement jump height (+65%, p < 0.0001), and flexibility (+75%; p < 0.0001). Aerobic fitness improved significantly in EG (+87.8m) compared to CG. Perceived enjoyment was notably higher in EG, especially at week three, compared to CG (69.3 ± 5.8 vs. 44.2 ± 11.6; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Exergaming offers benefits for physical fitness and body composition in children, while also enhancing enjoyment. Incorporating exergames into physical education programs could be an effective strategy for addressing childhood obesity, improving physical skills, and increasing student enjoyment, encouraging long-term physical activity adherence.

This study assessed whether a high-intensity exergame represents an enjoyable training tool for children in the elementary school setting. Furthermore, it evaluated whether gender, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), fitness level, weekly physical activity level, and general interest in sports moderate perceived enjoyment during the 12-week intervention. Thirty fifth- and sixth-grade students (10.5 ± 0.7 years; 50% girls) participated in this study. During baseline assessments, anthropometric measurements and a shuttle run test were conducted. Throughout the intervention period, the students participated in 15–20-min exergaming sessions (ES) in the ExerCube twice a week during school hours. Enjoyment was assessed after an ES in weeks 2 and 12. Additionally, enjoyment was evaluated after a physical education (PE) class in week 2. The results reveal no significant changes in enjoyment (p = 0.164) over time. The modest changes over time were significantly affected by BMI (p = 0.027), WHtR (p = 0.007), and weekly activity level (p = 0.016). Compared to the PE class, enjoyment was significantly higher during the ES (p < 0.001). None of the covariates showed a significant effect. Mean HR during the ES reached 87.1 ± 1.9% of students’ individual maximum HR. In conclusion, the ExerCube provides a promising tool for schools to promote enjoyable moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

Background Evidence suggests that technology-based interventions may be beneficial in promoting positive changes in physical activity and mental health; however, robust studies are scarce. Specifically, while technology-driven strategies such as exergaming and virtual reality have been associated with increased physical activity and psychological benefits, their application in diverse cultural and geographic contexts remains underexplored. Despite growing interest in leveraging technology for health promotion, there remains limited evidence regarding the efficacy of these interventions in addressing physical inactivity and mental health challenges among adults. Objectives The study's primary objective was to assess the impact of a technology-based physical activity intervention by comparing an experimental group that received the intervention with a control group that received no intervention. Additionally, it aimed to explore gender-specific perceptions of motivations for and barriers to using technology in physical activities. Methodology The research employed a mixed-methods design, combining a quantitative pretest–posttest randomized controlled trial (RCT) and qualitative semi-structured interviews. A total of 312 adults were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group, with the intervention consisting of a 12-week program incorporating exergaming and virtual reality activities. Quantitative data were analyzed using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA), controlling for baseline differences and other covariates. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Results revealed a statistically significant impact of the intervention across physical activity levels, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness, with a large multivariate effect size. The qualitative analysis revealed that participants perceived technology-based physical activities as increasing motivation, enhancing convenience, and fostering social connection. They also reported positive emotional experiences, although individual differences influenced engagement and benefits, with younger and more extroverted individuals showing a greater preference and responsiveness. Conclusions The findings confirm that technology-based physical activity interventions can effectively improve physical activity levels, mental health, life satisfaction, and happiness among adults. Implications These results highlight the need for designing culturally adaptable, user-centered digital physical activity programs that specifically address motivational triggers, such as gamified features, social interactivity, and convenience. Moreover, interventions should be personalized to align with participants' age, personality traits, and technological familiarity to optimize engagement and impact. Public health practitioners and policymakers are encouraged to integrate such digital tools into community-based wellness initiatives to promote sustained behavioral change.

Alotaibi M, Alnajjar F, Cappuccio M, Khalid S, Alhmiedat T, Mubin O. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2022;15:1227-1244. The authors have advised the correspondence section on page 1227 is incorrect. The correct correspondence details are as follows. Correspondence: Mohammad Alotaibi, mmalotaibi@ut.edu.sa; Fady Alnajjar, fady.alnajjar@uaeu.ac.ae The authors apologize for this error.

(1) Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most frequent causes of disability among older people. Recently, virtual reality and exergaming have been emerged as promising tools for gait and balance rehabilitation in PD patients. Our purpose is to evaluate an innovative treatment for older patients with PD, based on non-immersive virtual reality exergames, improving gait and balance and reducing falling risk. (2) Methods: Thirty PD patients were recruited and randomly divided into two groups, to receive a traditional rehabilitation (CG) or a technological rehabilitation (TG). (3) Results: A statistical improvement of balance at the end of treatments was observed in both groups (CG: 12.4 ± 0.7 vs. 13.5 ± 0.8, p = 0.017; TG: 13.8 ± 0.5 vs. 14.7 ± 0.4, p = 0.004), while the overall risk of falling was significantly reduced only in the TG (POMA Total: 24.6 ± 0.9 vs. 25.9 ± 0.7, p = 0.010). The results between groups shows that all POMA scores differ in a statistically significant manner in the TG, emphasizing improvement not only in balance but also in gait characteristics (9.7 ± 0.8 vs. 11.4 ± 0.2, p = 0.003). Moreover, TG also improves the psychological sphere, measured thorough MSC-(17.1 ± 0.4 vs. 16.5 ± 0.4, p = 0.034). Although an improvement in FES-I and Gait Speed can be observed, this increase does not turn out to be significant. (4) Conclusions: Results suggest how non-immersive virtual reality exergaming technology offers the opportunity to effectively train cognitive and physical domains at the same time.

Exergame training, in which video games are used to promote exercise, can be tailored to address cognitive and physical risk factors for falls and is a promising method for fall prevention in older people. Here, we performed a randomized clinical trial using the smart±step gaming system to examine the effectiveness of two home-based computer game interventions, seated cognitive training and step exergame training, for fall prevention in community-dwelling older people, as compared with a minimal-intervention control group. Participants aged 65 years or older ( n  = 769, 71% female) living independently in the community were randomized to one of three arms: (1) cognitive training using a computerized touchpad while seated, (2) exergame step training on a computerized mat or (3) control (provided with an education booklet on healthy ageing and fall prevention). The rate of falls reported monthly over 12 months—the primary outcome of the trial—was significantly reduced in the exergame training group compared with the control group (incidence rate ratio = 0.74, 95% confidence interval = 0.56–0.98), but was not statistically different between the cognitive training and control groups (incidence rate ratio = 0.86, 95% confidence interval = 0.65–1.12). No beneficial effects of the interventions were found for secondary outcomes of physical and cognitive function, and no serious intervention-related adverse events were reported. The results of this trial support the use of exergame step training for preventing falls in community-dwelling older people. As this intervention can be conducted at home and requires only minimal equipment, it has the potential for scalability as a public health intervention to address the increasing problem of falls and fall-related injuries. Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry identifier: ACTRN12616001325493 . In a randomized clinical trial enrolling older people living in a community setting, exergame step training on a computerized mat, but not seated cognitive training, decreased the rate of falls over the course of a year, as compared to a control group provided with an education booklet on healthy aging and fall prevention.

Objective Physical training (PT, e.g., Tai Chi and strength training) has been demonstrated to improve balance control and prevent falls. Recently, exergame intervention (EI) has emerged to prevent falls by enhancing both physical and cognitive functions in older adults. Therefore, we aim to quantitatively assess and compare the effects of PT and EI on the performance of balance control and fall prevention in healthy older adults via meta-analysis. Methods A search strategy based on the PICOS principle was used to find the publication in the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE. The quality and risk of bias in the studies were independently assessed by two researchers. Results Twenty studies consisting of 845 participants were included. Results suggested that as compared to PT, EI induced greater improvement in postural control (sway path length, SMD = − 0.66, 95% CI − 0.91 to − 0.41, P  < 0.001, I 2  = 0%; sway speed, SMD = − 0.49, 95% CI − 0.71 to − 0.27, P  < 0.001, I 2  = 42%) and dynamic balance (SMD = − 0.19, 95% CI − 0.35 to − 0.03, P  = 0.02, I 2  = 0%) in healthy older adults. The EI with 90–119 min/week for more than 8-week significantly reduced falls. Subgroup analyses revealed that exergames, which were designed by the two principles of repeatedly performing diversified tasks and gradually increase the difficulty of the task, induced significant effects in improving balance control and falls prevention respectively ( P  = 0.03, P  = 0.009). In addition, intervention that combines EI and PT induced significant improvement in postural control ( P  = 0.003). Conclusion The exergame intervention, especially the combination of EI and PT, is a promising strategy to improve balance control and reduce falls in healthy older adults. Future studies with rigorous design, larger sample size, and follow-up assessments are needed to further assess the effectiveness of diverse exergame interventions in fall prevention and to quantify the “dose-effect” relationship, as well as the carry-over effect of such intervention, which will ultimately help optimize the rehabilitative strategies to improve balance control and prevent falls.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1282263.].

Virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation is a growing technological field, which gradually becomes integrated into existing programs. However, technology has to support human behavior and -needs, including social relatedness, to achieve health-related outcomes. Elderly people have high risk of loneliness, and VR has technological affinity for natural social interaction. Previous studies have relied on competitiveness rather than collaborative elements, but research shows that competitiveness can lead to (feelings of) stress and aggressive behavior in some individuals. This article presents a mixed methods study to gather end-user feedback on a social VR scenario that encourages inter-player collaboration on a virtual tandem bike. Outpatients (n=11, 64% males, 60±11 years) were invited to participate with a co-player (friend or family). Participants biked on average 10.7 (± 3) minutes with a mean speed of 14.8 kmph (± 5.8). The results indicate potential and feasibility for the collaborative social biking application. Participants reported excellent usability-scores (85 ± 5), high intrinsic motivation in all categories: enjoyment (6.5 ± 0.5), effort/importance (6.4 ± 0.3), relatedness (6.3 ± 0.7) and minimal increase in symptoms of nausea, oculomotor and disorientation. Furthermore, participants found the social aspect enjoyable, agreed that collaboration eased tasks and that they lost track of exercise duration. Interpersonal interaction between participants varied, but was mostly positively rated valence, even if the sense of copresence was limited by physical constraints and avatar representation. Most participants expressed that they would use the program again, but future studies should explore how to improve location and appearance of the virtual coactor, as well as implement additional tasks.

Whether the application of exergames in physical education (PE) courses can significantly improve student performance in PE learning is still controversial. This review explores the promoting effect of exergames on student PE learning and the conditions in which the effect of exergames can be maximized. Based on the PICOS method, two researchers independently searched the ProQuest database, EBSCO database, Web of Science (WoS) database, PubMed database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, Wanfang database, and VIP database, evaluated the literature quality using the Cochrane system evaluation manual, and performed a meta-analysis of the included literature. A total of 16 randomized controlled trials involving 2962 subjects were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed that exergames effectively improved student performance in PE learning (SMD = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.27–0.63, P < 0.00001). Subgroup analysis indicated that better results could be achieved when exergames were introduced in small kindergarten classes and continued for 1–2 months.