Merely having active Wii games isn’t enough to increase fitness levels, and new study shows.  

The study selected children ages 9 – 12 who had a body mass index above the median and who did not already own a Wii. Each household was given a Wii, with half of them assigned to a group that could choose two of five available titles: Active Life: Extreme Challenge; EA Sports Active; Dance Dance Revolution; Wii Fit Plus; and Wii Sports. The other half of the group could choose games that did not require activity: Disney Sing It: Pop Hits and Madden NFL 10. All participants wore accelerometers periodically to measure physical activity over a 13-week period. Researchers did not give instructions on when to exercise or how much time should be spent playing any of the games.

The end result? Researchers found “no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general, or at any time, than children receiving the inactive video games.”

Videogames aren’t going to change someone by their presence alone. They need to be played. Duh.

[via Game Politics]