The Effect of Extended Reality Exercise on Physical Activity and Physical Performance in Children and Youth: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Physical activity is vital for children’s and youth’s healthy growth and development. Despite the physical, psychological, and social benefits, many children and youth are not physically active enough. Extended reality exercise (XRE), which incorporates virtual, augmented, and mixed reality exercise-based gaming, has been touted as a possible tool for not only promoting physical activity but also developing physical performance. Accordingly, we conducted a five-stage scoping review to identify themes and gaps in the literature pertaining to the application of XRE in physical activity-related research. We identified a positive impact of XRE on physical activity and performance in children and youth, including those with and without impairments, with a predominant preference for nonimmersive virtual reality in the majority of studies. There is a paucity of studies that specifically investigate the effects of XRE on physical activity in impaired children and youth. Likewise, more research is needed to determine how XRE can be leveraged to develop physical performance in nonimpaired children and youth. There is also a need for more large-sample studies that incorporate fully immersive XRE.