Aug 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Spring-boarding off the consumer success of Dance Dance Revolution and the Wii Fit, health clubs are drawing in more families by offering active gaming programming and equipment.

When the YMCA of Avery County in Linville, NC, began planning its new facility about a year-and-a-half ago, operators looked at adding a typical kids' room with toys, a TV and the usual trimmings. However, after researching the pre-teen market and investigating health issues in the rural community (30 percent of children in Avery County are obese), the Y quickly changed its course.

“As we started to investigate issues in our community, we felt like there had to be a better way than a gym or a teen room,” says Tim Jennings, director of operations for the Y. “We started doing homework on interactive fitness and thought, ‘We may be on to something.'”

Indeed, they were. After spending more than $75,000 on active gaming equipment, programming and staff training, the Interactive Fitness Zone has caused quite the stir in the town of Linville. The new room offers a variety of exergames that use movement to perform an action in a video game.

“We've had new members and lead-ins come in since we opened in May,” Jennings says, noting that one sixth-grade girl lost 25 pounds by using the interactive games. “At least 25 to 30 percent of those who come in say they've come in because of something they've heard about the room, and they want to be a part of that.”

The Y of Avery County is one of a few fitness facilities that is heavily investing in active gaming to draw in more kids and families. However, some people in the industry say it may only be a matter of time before active gaming equipment becomes common in fitness facilities.

Active gaming has exploded in popularity in the consumer market. Nintendo's latest system, the Wii, along with the offshoot game and board, Wii Fit, have been immensely successful since their introductions. According to research from the NPD Group, a provider of consumer and retail market research for a wide range of industries, consumers have purchased almost 11 million Wii systems since it was introduced in November 2006, and more than 690,000 Wii Fit units were sold when it was released in May. The game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) also has been incredibly popular and — through retail dance pads and games offered on almost every major video game system — has moved from arcades to people's homes.

Although the active gaming equipment in clubs is typically different than those offered in the consumer market, Gregory Florez, CEO of FitAdvisor Health Coaching Services and Fitness First Inc., says these types of games in homes can make people more comfortable with the technology and, therefore, more apt to try it in a health club. In fact, active gaming may be one of the best ways to get more people active in health clubs, he says.

“It's multiple times better than waiting for the next Oprah-endorsed product or hot product,” Florez says. “We know that gaming is huge and here to stay, so why not leverage on an already hot trend?”

Game On

Despite active gaming's growing popularity, some people in the industry have been skeptical of exergaming's health benefits. However, recent research has shown that some active games do provide health benefits. A recent study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) found that although none of the Wii games that replicated sports, such as boxing, tennis, baseball, bowling and golf, burned as many calories as actually playing the sports, users did burn more calories than when playing a sedentary video game. Wii boxing was even considered intense enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance, according to the ACE report. The group is currently studying the Wii Fit's fitness benefits.

Another study of 22 overweight and normal weight children, ages 11 to 17, found that DDR increased players' heart rates enough to obtain an aerobic workout and gain cardio-physiological benefits, says Debra Lieberman, program director of Health Games Research, an $8.25 million national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which supports research to enhance the quality and impact of interactive games used to improve health. Lieberman calls health clubs and active games a natural fit.

“The concept of games is accessible to people,” she says, noting that today's active gaming options are much more intuitive than they used to be. “This type of research takes away some of the fear factor of games being bad for you. It takes away the sedentary argument.”

Lisa Hansen, co-director of the XRKade Research Lab at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL, has been researching exergaming for the last 2 1/2 years. She says that active gaming, if done correctly, can improve members' health as well as increase revenue and retention rates in clubs. Children from local schools come into the lab for P.E. classes and never once sit down, even when they have the option to take a break, she says.

Hansen recommends offering active gaming in a separate space for children so that kids can be loud and help each other with tips and strategies. She suggests having at least five or six pieces of equipment.

“For fitness markets, there's always been this gap where you have day care and then you have the older adult stuff, but you don't have anything for the teens and tweens,” Hansen says. “Kids don't go to the gym. Kids have to enjoy it.”

For adults, a few active gaming pieces on the cardio floor are sufficient, she says, although many adults enjoy playing with their children in the active gaming room.

In Hansen's experience, active gaming is best suited for bringing people together and creating a community, she says.

“I haven't seen any difference in demographics — the richest kids in the world and inner city kids all love it,” she says. “It's an activity that kids relate to. There's a game for everybody. It's not like basketball where not everyone is good at it. All ability levels love it.”

Game Play

For many club owners, active gaming has helped bring families into their facilities. After all, the family who plays together stays together.

An active gaming room has helped the North St. Paul Community Center in Minnesota attract more families, says Angie Dehart, XRKade director and health and fitness coordinator for the community center, which has more memberships now than 10 years ago. Dehart credits that growth partially to the $80,000 active gaming room. The room includes 20 active gaming pieces, including four dance-based games and six bikes, she says.

“Usually, parents will leave their kid at home because before the XRKade, all we had was basketball for them to do,” Dehart says. “Now, parents are adding their kids to their membership or kids are getting individual memberships. We're getting more daily passes, too.”