6 Electronic Gaming and the Obesity Crisis

Children and adolescents in the United States and in many countries are projected to have shorter life spans than their parents, partly because of the obesity crisis engulfing the developed world. Exposure to electronic media is often implicated in this crisis because media use, including electronic game play, may promote sedentary behavior and increase consumption of high-calorie foods and beverages that are low in nutritional value. Electronic games, however, may increase children’s physical activity and expose them to healthier foods. We examine the role of electronic games in the pediatric obesity crisis and their contribution to more favorable health outcomes. In just three short decades, the U.S. pediatric obesity rate has tripled (McGinnis, Gootman, Kraak, & the Committee on Food Marketing and the Diets of Children and Youth, 2006); the percentage of 6- to 11-year-old children who were obese increased from 7 % in 1980 to 20 % in 2008 (Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010). The escalating obesity rates are not likely caused b