Group takes aim at child obesity through Internet

By JOE VELARDE
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, September 20, 2007

With childhood obesity ballooning in the United States, researchers are looking everywhere for solutions -- even toward the Internet and video games, which have been maligned by many for contributing to the crisis.

HopeLab, a California-based non-profit organization focused on child health, launched a Web site this week, www.ruckusnation.com, where Web surfers can submit innovative ways to encourage healthy living and boost physical activity in children. Up to $300,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded for the best ideas.

"It can be a video game, a toy, Web-based initiative -- anything," says Ellen Lapointe, vice president for strategic partnership at HopeLab. "It can be the next hula hoop or Dance Dance Revolution (the popular video game also known as DDR), or even something in between."

Emily Murphy, research instructor for the department of pediatrics at West Virginia University, says that video games such as the DDR, which has players mimic dance moves, actually work to increase physical activity.

According to a study conducted earlier this year by Murphy, children in the 85th percentile of body mass index improved their general health and reduced their risks of certain long-term adulthood illnesses, such as diabetes, simply by playing DDR for 30 minutes a day, five days a week for 24 weeks.

"When you think outside the box, using extra gaming like DDR is effective," Murphy said. "(Ruckusnation.com) puts the ball back into the children's court and let's them come up with their own ideas. It may be effective, it may not. Only time will tell."

The epidemic of child obesity is growing. Over the last 30 years, the number of obese children ages 6 to 11 has tripled, according to Elissa Murphy, dietician at Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Terre Haute, Ind. According to a 2007 report by the Trust for American's Health, approximately 25 million children ages of 6 to 17 in the United States are either overweight or obese. Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass.

Some experts consider the Internet and video games as leading causes for the obesity crisis, as kids are tempted to stay inside rather than playing and exercising outdoors. But HopeLab is using those tools to promote good health.

HopeLab produced Re-Mission, a first-person shooting video game featuring a character named Roxy who travels through the human body eradicating cancerous cells. Based on the popularity of that game, the people at HopeLab are now targeting child obesity via Ruckusnation.com, which they hope can act as the hub for a worldwide competition of ideas.

"During our prior work with Re-Mission, we found that products in particular can be very effective and powerful tools (for stimulating awareness) if they're fun and engaging," Lapointe said. "The window of opportunity for encouraging good living habits occurs during the middle school years. If you can get them thinking now, hopefully they'll continue moving throughout the rest of their lives."

Contestants can submit their ideas at ruckusnation.com through Nov. 20. Winners will be announced in early 2008.

For more information, visit ruckusnation.com, hopelab.org and healthyamericans.org.