Social network users love to play video games. The United States has an obesity problem. Is there a way for video games to combat the obesity problem? Heck yes there is!
The situation
According to an article in the Journal of School Nursing, 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 are overweight or obese. In a similar study conducted in the UK compared energy expenditure during sedentary and active gaming. The study found that energy expenditure was 51% greater during active gaming (ex. during Wii Sports games) versus sedentary gaming (ex. XBOX 360 games). While the study was conducted prior to the launch of XBOX's Kinect product, energy expenditure, heart rate, and nondominant upper limb activity were significantly greater during active games (now available on XBOX's Kinect product, Wii and PlayStation Move platforms). While several studies observe and evaluate prevention or causes of obesity, in a recent study it was found that while energy expenditure was greater playing sedentary video games versus remaining at rest, "a single session of video game play in healthy male adolescents is associated with an increased food intake, regardless of appetite sensations." In short, when adolescent gamers are physically moving they're healthier than sitting and playing games.
PopCap recently conducted a study on domestic engagement and relationship building as it relates to social games. The study showed that the growth in casual games has resulted in children as young as two becoming proficient in the use of smartphones or similar form factors. Over 27% of respondents reported that their children borrowed their smartphone on a daily basis to play such casual games. This study was conducted at Goldsmiths University among 3,250 parents with children or grandchildren under 16. In short, the same age range affected by sedentary gaming also builds stronger relationships with older generations when the two play together.
Current initiatives
We've seen campaigns here in the US like the NFL's Play60, the NBA/WNBA's FIT Pledge and the NHL/USA Hockey PALA Challenge all of which are designed to put sports celebrities in the spotlight to inspire children to be active.
On the other end of the spectrum, we've seen game publishers and convenience stores pair up to deliver access to online content through physical-world purchases and location based services offer online/virtual incentives for participating in physical activities. What games or services are out there that take offline activities such as working out, participating in sports or just plain unplugging for a time to enjoy life and be healthy?
The Awesomeness
Offline activities can warrant in-game advancement. If playing social network-based games together builds the relationship between generations and if being physically active increases personal health why not merge the two?
Technical Approaches
One challenge that may arise is validation. From a technical standpoint, simply having a means to tracks offline activities between child/grandchild and their parental generations that could communicate with game publishers' applications would be the easiest implementation. Take the Awards app for example, it lets you build a list of - in this case - physical activities and then as your child/grandchild completes the activities, they can earn virtual rewards. Virtual rewards, in the case of this app, can be exchanged for tangible rewards. If Awards' sharing/posting methods talked to PopCap or Zynga's suite of games - and through a combination of no-in-game-activity timers within the social games - the social game could validate and then reward offline activity.
This approach to rewarding physical activity will most likely need to come from the big players to really be effective. The Awards App example works great for kids, but what about older adolescents or generations? Using apps like RunKeeper, Nike+, Daily Mile, etc to communicate with social games would be an equally (or more) effective way to measure offline activity and reward it in-game.
We can still bond with our kids/grandkids over social games we just need to be sure we're sending the right message to our younger generations about their health. Game publishers can benefit two fold by promoting offline activity and offering incentives to return to their social game titles. What other ways could you see social game publishers promoting health, wellness and offline activities through their games?