Effects of Elimination and Non-Elimination Games on Physical Activity and Psychosocial Responses in Children

Abstract

Physically active games are one way to increase caloric expenditure in children. It is unknown if the structure of physically active games impacts physical activity levels. Furthermore, there has been no research examining psychosocial responses during a single game session. PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of elimination games (EG) and non-elimination games (NEG) on physical activity (PA), self-efficacy (SE), peer victimization (PV), and enjoyment in normal weight and overweight children. METHODS: Children (n = 29) in 4th-6th grade (65.5% male) who were normal weight (n = 20) or overweight (n = 9) participated in two sessions where they played either NEG or EG. Children were stratified according to gender and weight status and randomized into game sessions that were counter-balanced across two days. Each session consisted of playing two games 20 min. in duration. NEG were adopted from the evidence-based Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) games curriculum and modified for EG. Each child wore an Actigraph GT1M accelerometer and completed an 11-item questionnaire measuring SE, PV, and enjoyment before and after each game session. Accelerometer data was analyzed using Trueth cutpoints. RESULTS: A mixed effects regression model was conducted with child and day nested within child as random effects and observation, game session, weight status, and gender as fixed effects. Overall, girls spent more time in sedentary PA compared to boys (p=0.011). Children were significantly more active during NEG compared to EG (p<0.01), ostensibly because of more time in light PA (p<0.01) and less time in sedentary PA (p<0.01) during NEG. However, there were no differences in moderate PA (p=0.54) and vigorous PA (p=0.86). Furthermore, children significantly increased SE after playing both game sessions (p=0.033), but a significant interaction between game session and time of measurement in the prediction of enjoyment showed that enjoyment increased after EG and decreased after NEG (p=0.014). There were no differences in PV or weight status. CONCLUSIONS: Although NEG may lead to greater total volume of PA compared to EG, both games provide similar moderate and vigorous PA. Furthermore, children may enjoy EG more than NEG.