22/05/2007

Advanced technology is being used to get children healthy – in the form of video games.

Doctors are using computer games to encourage youngsters to get healthy through exercise, while some are even being used in a bid to help children overcome the medical condition attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Dr George Graham, Professor of Kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University, told WQAD.com: 'It may be a partial solution to the obesity epidemic we're facing today.'

As treatment for young ADHD sufferers, patients are fitted with a hat containing sensors which give off certain brain waves in a bid to alter those responsible for ADHD in the child.

Youngsters are able to play a game in which they fight against cancer virtually. Those youngsters who played the game for three months were found to know more about cancer and be more likely to take their medication properly, the website reports.

'We always have to try to be creative with teenagers because a lot of times, their reaction is to just shut down,' said Jeanne Harvey at Washington University School of Medicine.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that some obese children in Puerto Rico have been completing video game workouts through a mat with sensors on it.