Playing a video game online can have both positive and negative effects your overall health. The consequences to a persons health can be immensely varied, depending on the types of games played and the amount of play time. Certain harmful effects can be caused by other factors in conjunction with extreme play of games. The good news is that they can usually be corrected by living a healthier lifestyle. You can find hundreds of video games that provide positive psychological benefits as well. Many of these video games are increasing in popularity. Daycare centers and Elementary schools now offer playing video games as a means to teach children to learn positive teamwork, problem solving, working together and many other things that schools work hard to teach but often find it challenging to teach them in an exciting environment. There are several games that are used as part of a comprehensive program that can also help autistic children and other children with developmental disorders.
The Following are some of the positive and negative aspects of playing various video games. By knowing this information you will be better prepared on which games you should purchase and those to avoid.
Negative: Seizures/Epilepsy: While there is no real concrete evidence that playing video games can cause epilepsy, people who suffer from this seizure disorder must be very careful when playing video games. People diagnosed with epilepsy and have played video games with extreme photo sensitivity have been known to experience seizures. Being aware of this is of the utmost importance and should be taken seriously. Positive: Building Eye & Hand Coordination: Recent studies have shown that playing video games can help to increase mental faculties, such as hand-eye coordination. Kids that played advanced games such as strategy and puzzle games can also increase problem solving, and intellectual stimulation.
Positive: Studies have shown that certain types of video games can have a positive effect on a players involvement in civic or political activities. A large number of kids who were civically or politically active also played games that involved social, moral or ethical issues, or played games that involve helping others.
Negative: Eyestrain: The detection of eye problems is especially significant in children since undetected problems can lead to long-term setbacks in school and social settings. Normal screening methods are administered by a family doctor and schools. A procedure called photo screening is especially suited to detecting amblyopic or more commonly known as Lazy Eye. It involves using a special video system or in some cases a camera to capture varied images of the eye. This is beneficial because a child doesn't have to focus on a target like a chart, the test is easily administered. Unfortunately, this technology can be costly, and results have to be sent in to be analyzed. If any issues of concern are detected after a test like this, the child is sent to an optometrist for further testing. It is significant for good eye health not sit too close to the TV or Computer screen while playing any video game.
Positive: There is a new eye test that can make screening not only easy, but also exciting for kids. The computer game Eye Spy helps medical professionals' pinpoint vision problems like refractive error and amblyopic. Children simply put on glasses are made with red and blue lenses and then begin to play an interactive treasure hunt game. This works to improve eye retraining, vision therapy and visual perception.
Negative: Decrease in Exercise: People of all ages who live a sedentary lifestyle because of inactivity and do the majority of their activities sitting down (such as when playing any video game), will usually suffer from some sort of ailment later on in life, such as heart and muscle problems and obesity. This is most often combined with poor nutrition as a result from eating fast food or junk food, which contributes to putting on weight and other hurtful health problems.
Positive: Physical Interaction Games: Given current technology, you can find exciting interactive games such as Dance Revolution (DDR) and Wii sports games. In addition there are electronic bikes hooked up to monitors so that kids can literally join a race to learn their numbers and ABCs, and laser-guided waist packs that track a child's movements as they ride their way through simulations.
If you or your child is ready to begin getting fit by having fun playing video games, then the following games are just what you need.
1. Rock Band: Without a doubt the guitar and singing portions are great fun, it is the drums however, that help provide the physical interaction that your child needs. It's not difficult to begin working up a sweat, plus it can spark some interest in playing a real guitar or drum set.
2. Nintendo's DDR: To really get the heart rate up, this is an exciting game that uses a special dance pad that prompts your child to can match the notes on the screen by stepping on the pad arrows in sequence. Using the corresponding quadrants of the pad with their feet, it's easy to get a good work out while dancing to a favorite song.
3. Wii Sports: Wii offers a wide variety of fun entertaining and stimulating video games for people of all ages. You will burn some calories and learn some good health habits. You can use the Wii remote as a baseball bat, tennis racket or bowling ball, be sure not to let whatever you holding slip out of your hand, so hold on tight!
NOTE: Video games that include physical activity usually come with a WARNING in the manual. Be sure to read the entire manual before playing a new game, as this may help prevent some unnecessary injuries. Video games that include boxing, tennis and bowling may suggest in the manual to "take a 10- to 15-minute break every hour, even if you don't think you need one. It is advisable to consult your family doctor before beginning any type of new strenuous physical activity.
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