The Effect Of Dance Dance Revolution On Energy Expenditure And Enjoyment In Severely Overweight Children Compared To Alternate Forms Of Activity

Abstract

Dance, Dance Revolution (DDR) is an innovative product that combines the popularity of video games with a dance activity component. DDR has the potential to bean activity that results in sufficient energy expenditure (EE) and one children will find enjoyable. Research is necessary to quantify and provide more adequate data on the EE of DDR. In addition, to date there are no published data on the enjoyment of DDR. To examine the EE and enjoyment of a single bout of DDR in severely overweight children compared to alternative forms of physical activity. Twenty severely overweight (body mass percentile for age and sex = 98.3 + 0.86%) children (10 boys and 10 girls) between 9 and 12 years of age (10.6 + 1.23 years) performed experimental trials for three separate modes of activity; treadmill walking, in-home walking video, and DDR. Each testing session consisted of a single activity bout that was 15 minutes in duration. EE was assessed using indirect calorimetry with data summed over the 15 minute activity session. Perceived enjoyment was assessed immediately after each testing session using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale. No significant differences were found for EE (p = 0.115) among modes of activity. Separate comparisons revealed DDR elicited a statistically lower EE than the walk video (70.84 + 16.58 vs. 60.65 + 15.95 kcal; p = 0.010) and a non-statistically lower EE than the treadmill walk (78.0 + 34.42 vs. 62.30 + 15.53 kcal; p = 0.093). Significant differences were found for enjoyment (p = 0.598) among mode of activity. DDR elicited a higher level of enjoyment than the treadmill walk and walk video (71.45 + 10.72 vs. 64.25 + 9.71 vs. 66.75 + 11.85; p = 001). No gender effect was observed for EE (p = 0.446) or enjoyment (p = 0.468) across modes of activity. The present investigation demonstrated that DDR resulted in a lower total EE compared to the treadmill walk and the walk video. Results also demonstrated that the enjoyment was similar for all modes of activity examined. These findings related to EE and enjoyment were not affected by gender (boys vs. girls) for the severely overweight children that participated in this study. The present investigation was the first to investigate the EE and enjoyment of DDR in severely overweight children. It was also the first to compare the EE and enjoyment of DDR to alternate forms of activity. The findings of this investigation may assist in further understanding how interactive video games such as DDR may be successfully used in interventions to promote physical activity in children. Future research should further investigate the EE and enjoyment of DDR and how this compares to alternate forms of activity.