How Video Games Help Women Lose Weight After Giving Birth

Women who just gave birth playing VR game

Losing weight after a pregnancy is not easy for many and the added kilos often remain there. Several studies show that physical activity and fitness training are effective in making the pregnancy silos disappear again, but many young mothers do not keep this up because the new child takes a lot of time, and being away from home is often difficult. Unlike the family-friendly game Minecraft (with the best Minecraft servers), a number of computer games are designed to make people move while playing. Researchers from Japan combined the useful with the pleasant and conducted a study on the effectiveness of playing these computer games on weight loss after pregnancy.

What did the researchers do?

34 women were asked to participate in the study. All women had given birth between 3 and 12 months before the start of the study. The women were randomly divided into a Video Game training group and a Control group. The Video Game training group was asked to play 30 minutes of Wii Fit Plus on the Nintendo Wii daily. However, they were free in how often and for how long they were going to play. The exercise intensity of the Wii Fit Plus game was around 3 METs or metabolic equivalents. This effort is similar to cycling or walking. The Control group was asked to maintain their regular lifestyle. The study lasted 40 days and before and after the start the participants were weighed and their waist size and fat mass were measured.

After 40 days, both the Video Game group and the control group showed a significant decrease in body weight and fat mass. However, the decreases were larger in the Video Game group and this group also showed a significant decrease in waist size. Although participants in the Video Game group were advised to play every day, this only happened on 4 days each week with an average of 62 minutes per session. So it was not played every day, but when this was done, the participants did it longer than recommended.

 

ALSO READ: The Importance of Listening to Music During Pregnancy

 

What did the researchers conclude?

The researchers concluded that playing video games that require you to be active for a reasonable period of time can lead to meaningful decreases in body weight, waist size, and fat mass. In addition, it turned out that the participants really enjoyed doing it, which is also evident from the playing time per session.

What does this mean in practice?

  • Active video games where one has to constantly move the body to play can serve well to train the weight that has arrived during pregnancy in a fairly short period of time.
  • Active video games can therefore serve as a substitute for other physical activities such as walking or other outdoor activities when it is not convenient to leave home in connection with the care of a baby.
  • Although it is a very useful alternative to regular physical activity, a combination of exercise, training, and a healthy lifestyle is more effective.

Playing Video Games – Is It Safe For Pregnant Women?

The computer and video gaming industry in 2018 had a total sale of video games that went over 43.4 billion US dollars, a record-breaking figure for the industry. In the United States, more than 164 million American adults play video games and 75 percent of all American families have at minimum one member of the household who is a gamer. Today, video gaming has become one of the top forms of entertainment making video games a fundamental part of the culture of America.

One of the Best-selling Video Games

Grand Theft Auto V is one of the many video games that adult gamers enjoy. Released in 2013 by Rockstar Games, the open-world, action-adventure video game sold over 115 million copies across the globe according to late-2019 data becoming one of the best-selling video games of all time. GTA, as the title of the video game implies, allows players to fictionally commit crimes, attempt to evade authorities while completing missions and tasks in the functional world of San Andreas. Check out GTA 5 Money Glitch for the most sought-after cheat codes.

With the countless video games available in the market, including GTA, a large number of people all over the world enjoy playing these games, regardless of age, gender, social and economic status, even pregnant women enjoy this form of entertainment. But, is it safe for pregnant women to play video games?

Is It Unsafe For Pregnant Women To Play Video Games?

Gaming or playing video games while pregnant isn’t deemed to be unsafe. But there are some who debate that playing video games throughout a pregnancy poses harm to the baby. However, there isn’t any direct scientific evidence for the theory to be confirmed. So far, what is known is that radiation from smartphones is verified to be harmful to a certain extent.

One of the larger concerns that frequently goes without being noticed with gaming while pregnant is the lack of adequate sleep. This is something that many gamers are familiar with, skipping those hours of sleep so as to level up or proceed to the next level. While it does feel good to reach that next level, loss or lack of sleep is dangerous for nearly everyone, particularly for pregnant women and the babies they are carrying. The effects are much more dangerous particularly if done for extended periods of time.

While it is safe to play video games while pregnant, do make certain to allocate adequate time for sleep and rest so as no to cause you and your baby harm.