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Mixed reality gaming may be the motivation kids need to stay active, according to a from the University of Georgia.

Children participating in the study saw a significant increase in physical activity.

they need every day, and what exercise they do get is on the decline. But, as most parents and guardians know, getting kids to work out isn’t as easy as just telling them to do so.

“Giving kids a video game and expecting them to exercise using it to lose weight or increase  physical activity is a tall order,” said , lead author of the study and a professor in UGA’s and director of the (CACHE). “Everybody needs some level of support and social relationships to really sustain that change.

“It turns out that we can use technology to help the parents and kids stay connected and help them drive that common family goal of making sure that the kids are staying active and healthy.”

Physical activity among children declining

The study focused on more than 300 children and their parents enrolled in after-school programs with the YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta. Half were assigned to the mixed reality kiosk while the rest used a computer program for setting exercise goals without social feedback.

The digital fitness program used a virtual dog designed by the research team to help children understand how to set physical activity goals and to encourage them to reach the goals they set. Fitbits tracked the activity of each child. If they reached their goal, they were able to play with the dog.

The researchers wanted to see how a sense of autonomy and accomplishment drive a child’s fitness goals. Instead of assigning a goal for every child, the mixed reality kiosk gave them the freedom to set their own goals.

This approach allowed kids to set goals that were more reachable for them instead of following a one-size-fits-all approach to physical activity.

“That sense of mastery is very critical in changing behavior, but if you’ve never experienced mastering something, then you’re never going to know that sense of accomplishment,” said Ahn. “So the idea was to set the goal to essentially meet them where they are. For some kids, that may be 60 minutes of activity. For others, it may be 15. But that’s a great starting point.”

The program also kept caregivers in the loop, allowing them to see what their children were doing and enabling parents to offer words of encouragement to help their kids reach their fitness goals.

Social support key to maintaining progress

For changes in behavior to stick, children need social support to encourage them, Ahn said.

In the present study, part of this positive feedback came from the virtual dog. As the kids reached their goals, the dog became healthier, allowing the children to play with it longer and teach it more complex tricks.

But caregivers also played an integral role.

Parents and guardians received text messages about their child’s progress in real time. They were then able to send their own words of encouragement.

This system provided both additional social support to the child and an easy way for caretakers to stay connected with their kids.

As the study centered on after-school programs, where guardians are usually away from their children, this sense of connection proved especially critical.

“The human beings are sort of the anchors to the system,” said Ahn. “Without the human in the loop of the devices, the devices lose meaning.”

The study was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

This study was published in npj Digital Medicine and was co-authored by , of UGA’s ; , and , of UGA’s ; Rebecca N. Grimsley, of the CACHE center at Grady College; and , of UGA’s .

Additional co-authors include James J. Annesi, Lindsay Hahn and Eric Novotny.