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In Summary: reduced use of asthma medicationas measured by ISD progress reports, significant differences in academic performance were observed no extra time needs to be devoted to the program as a result of increased classroom time efficiency.Previous programs have attempted to add a new section into the curriculum, which forces the reduction or elimination of other educational time. The ABC for Fitness program can reduce downtime and increase teaching time. As several schools decrease the amount of time and money spent on physical education (22), this program is an alternative; training time is minimal, and no specialists or extra equipment is required.

On June 12 the entire Bend, Oregon community is invited to join teachers, students and families from 6 local schools in the global celebration of the PopCap flagship game, Bejeweled.

PopCap has teamed with us at FootGaming to create a community-wide event that will help build awareness of the dynamic and powerful ExerLearning program that was born right in Central Oregon.

Through May 15, local teachers will apply for PopCap sponsored grants that will bring select PopCap games, FootPOWR active computer mouse peripherals and valuable teacher training to six finalist teachers. Busy teachers know that regular physical activity helps students to focus, develop cognitive skills and to “get the wiggles out.”  Exerlearning the PopCap and FootGaming way makes it ultra-easy for our teachers.

Why should kids – or anyone else – sit and use a regular mouse all day (and night) long?  Physical activity is great for the body and the mind – it’s exciting to be part of the solution for our hard-working teachers.  Thanks PopCap!

See the full story – Just click here.

Like millions of my “sit in the chair and work at the computer” kin, it’s easy to keep working from a chair all day long.  I was in that boat – and finding a widening of girth in spite of being a very active person.  That was one of the most compelling drivers for me when I joined Kevin Colburn to create the FootPOWR computer peripheral.

As easy as sliding my desk chair to the side and taking a 10 minute active break erither standing, playing some stress-reducing computer games, doing computer tasks that require more mouse than keyboarding – I have been able to add 80 minutes or more of “out of the chair’ physical activity each workday.  It took some disruption of my usual habits, but for the past two years its added more healthy benefits than I had originally imagined. The research is as follows:

As most individuals recognize, physical inactivity has been shown to increase the number of deaths from all-causes, as well as from heart disease and cancer. But what about those of us who meet the physical activity recommendations but spend most of the day sitting?  Does all that sitting have a negative impact on health?

A study performed by Dr. Katzmarzyk¹ and his associates (2009) examined the effects of prolonged sitting on all-cause and cardiovascular death rates in individuals who exercised and those who did not.  The researchers collected information about daily activities including time spent sitting in over 17,000 individuals.  They followed the subjects for an average of 12 years measuring the number of deaths and the cause.

Not surprising, researchers reported the highest death rates in persons who spent most of the day sitting.  However, all-cause and heart disease death rates were also higher in persons who spent more time sitting even if they met the recommended physical activity requirements.  In fact, death rates were similar in exercisers and nonexercisers who spent most of their day sitting.  If you have never been inspired to get out of your chair – do it now and finish reading this blog while standing – at least!

Researchers are studying the effects of excessive sitting on the body.  Some of the negative effects include Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity and cardiovascular disease.  Scientists believe that an active lifestyle may provide different health benefits than occur with exercise alone, providing further protection against heart disease.    

This research highlights the need to reduce sedentary behaviors by spending more time standing, walking, and climbing the stairs.  Low intensity activities like cleaning, ironing, walking the dog and yard work are excellent ways to add activity to your day while completing chores on your ”to-do” list.  At FootGaming we offer a choice – please explore how a FootPOWR shared among co-workers, family members or just to have for yourself can improve your health while providing some great fun.

Remember, many of the games we suggest for FootGamers have been shown to provide a decrease in stress and improvement in mood – also great for your overall health.

1.  Katzmarzyk, P.T., Church, T.S., Craig, C.L., & Bouchard, C. (2009). Sitting time and Mortality from All Causes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer. MSSE, 41(5),998-1005.

Beginning with the ground breaking studies by Dr. James Levine and NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) we started to become more aware of the fitness genius of getting out of our chairs on a regular basis throughout each day. http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/levine_lab/ It was that awareness that lead to both FootGaming and Exerlearning over the past decade.

  We are so busy, so social and so into great “screen” fun that we sit for many more hours a day than we actually realize.  Try this: Log your time between stand and move breaks for a few days. You’ll soon become aware that even when you’re “on a break” it is easy to stay at a screen and be entertained by what’s online.  That habit is what inspired us to develop the FootPOWR - the active mouse controller that is easy to use with any computer. In the past two years we were equally inspired by the ground-breaking work of Dr. John Ratey and his book, SPARK. You can get that book at Dr. Ratey’s website.

In a recent study, researchers at the University of Queensland found a link between the amounts of time that subjects spent watching television and the levels of blood glucose and blood cholesterol in their bodies. This held true even if the individuals engaged in regular physical exercise and after such variables as obesity were considered. Further, the researchers found that an enzyme called lipase seems to be responsible for the link between sitting and poor health.

 Lipoprotein lipase is the body’s natural fat absorber that works only when one stands, says lead researcher Neville Owen. While standing, lipase promotes the absorption of fat and cholesterol into the muscles. When one sits, however, lipase “shuts off” which causes the fat to circulate in the blood until it comes to rest on ones’ stomach or hips (as fat) or settles in the arteries leading to heart disease.

This study proves that sitting and poor health are linked and are, indeed, an “insidious” danger, according to Dr. Marc Hamilton.

Reading this inspired me to stand. Ran to the garage to collect a few shelves and a plastic box. My keyboard is now on a plastic box and my monitor is on a shelf 5 inches taller.  I am typing a bit more slowly – but am breathing a sign of relief that my lipase is buzzing along beautifully.

There are now, says Hamilton, many studies that show the negative link between sitting and poor heath. Moreover, many of these studies indicate a heightened risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease for those who spend a disproportionate amount of time sitting.

In his own research study, Hamilton took plasma samples after his research subject ate a meal while sitting. Then he took a plasma sample after the same subject ate the same meal while standing. When the subject ate the meal while sitting, the plasma sample was cloudy (fat). When the subject at the meal while standing, the plasma sample was clear. This is dramatic proof that sitting and poor health are linked, claims Hamilton.

And it makes no difference how physically active you are at other times, say researchers. One may, in fact, exercise for 30 minutes every day and still be susceptible to developing high cholesterol, heart disease and obesity-if one spends much of the rest of the day sitting. (Hamilton’s research indicated that those who sat showed a 22 percent reduction in their “good” cholesterol). Lipase “shuts off” when your body (in essence) shuts off, say researchers. In order to mobilize the fat-absorbing components of lipase, therefore, one needs to (at least) stand.

Health Benefits of Standing

Besides activating lipase, standing has a number of other advantages over sitting. Standing, say experts:

• Improves circulation
• Strengthens the muscles of the legs and the back
• Aligns the body thus preventing pain
• Burns more calories (an estimated 60 additional calories are burned per hour-simply by standing).
• Reduces damage to the muscles, ligaments, and discs of the back. Due to poor posture issues, many individuals suffer from such back injuries during periods of “leisure sitting.” (Source: Neck Solutions)

It isn’t that difficult to  “avoid the chair” whenever possible. I tried this for a week. In my GoogleApps calendar I set an alarm for each 20 minutes during “desk work.”  When the alarm went off, was I standing, could I stand then, why not! While on my phone I walked around – sometimes on a longer call I strolled outside. Moving “think breaks” were a lot more productive than sitting and trying to brainstorm – but I had to create a new habit. Frequent standing, says Hamilton, will switch “on” lipase more often.

 It wasn’t all work - I had fun as well. Even though I already am an avid FootGamer i allowed more FootGame breaks than usual. No guilt when i logged onto facebook (I am “FootGaming” on Facebook) and played Bejeweled Blitz for a few 10-minute sessions.  I tried out Peggle Nights and Bejeweled TWIST.  These 10 minute breaks gave me a full hour of additional and regular activity breaks during a time when i could have just as easily been sitting non-stop.  Productivity? Way better! Aches in my legs – gone!

This is not a small thing. Please take the time to learn more. The existing data, by numerous studies, are starting to show that the rates of heart disease and diabetes and obesity are doubled or sometimes even tripled in people who sit a lot,” Dr. Hamilton explains. One reason, he says, is an enzyme called lipase. When it’s on, fat is absorbed into the muscles, but when we sit down, lipase virtually shuts off.

“Instead, the fat will recirculate in the blood stream and go and be stored as body fat or it can clog arteries and cause diseases,” Dr. Hamilton says. And it’s not a small amount of fat. Plasma samples were taken from the same person after eating the same meal. When they ate sitting down, the sample was cloudy, but when they ate while standing up, it was clear.  Please send us your stories or comments.  This research is important and very relevant to almost everyone, from the 4th grader in school to the project manager working late and worrying about health risks.

Recent research confirms what we already understand, simply standing instead of sitting can help you burn 33% more calories in a day. One of the inspirations behind the development of the FootPOWR as an activity-driven computer mouse was the need for all of us to add more activity to “screen-filled” days. When we stand and move – even a little bit – calorie expenditure increases rapidly. An active Footgaming session of a Bejeweled, Mahjong or even Solataire can go a long way in turning our weight-loss corner.
Just as eating six or more smaller, well-balanced meals in a day can support weight loss, a few sessions when you “choose to move” during computer time can support wellness goals. After a grueling 40 minutes with a tough spreadsheet or work-related document, nothing feels quite as good as a relaxing session with a favorite casual game or facebook session on Farmville. But why sit and relax and play?

If a game “clicks” and isn’t timed, then it’s a natural for FootGaming. Some great examples can be found here. http://www.footgaming.com/Family/AvidCasualGamer/

At first the choice to stand and move during a computer game session may not seem like the easiest thing to do. Until you experience the zesty energy boost a short bout of activity can deliver you may not believe how good you’ll feel. At first you may need to intellectually balance the enormous total of weekly calories or even miles you’ll gain with FootGaming until a regular habit is formed. Take a look at how the FootPOWR can log each of your game-playing “mouse clicks” as steps, miles and calories used.

http://www.footgaming.com/Arcade/Fit_to_Play/

Q: Do active video games such as FootGaming count toward recommended amounts of physical activity?

A: Playing video games that involve movement and increase a player’s heart rate and breathing noticeably would be considered moderate physical activity. Moderate physical activity feels like you are exerting yourself to a rating of 5 or 6 on a scale of 0 to 10. Another sign of moderate-intensity activity is that you can talk but not sing.

The intensity of activity considered moderate for any individual depends on his or her level of fitness. For more see this section of our Footgaming site.

Researchers are just beginning to objectively study the impact of active video games on overall level of physical activity and fitness, mostly among children and teens. Results are mixed, but a few studies suggest that games even at the lowest levels are clearly a step up from the more sedentary activity of watching television or sitting and playing video games.  For beginners we usually suggest an untimed game that can be played very slowly (with great balance practice) up to fast-paced levels as skill improves.  This game is Bejeweled by PopCap.

Actually, the intensity of activity considered moderate for any individual depends on his or her level of fitness. So for some people whose sedentary lifestyle, illness or excess weight has led to a low level of fitness, even the easiest entry level of Footgaming can be beneficial.  Because FootGgaming allows you to work in gravity and the games are played involving whole body movement they may actually be moderate activity.

For those who get really skilled at Zuma, Chuzzle, even MahJong and word games, the FootGaming workout can generate aerobic activity in the 50-80% max levels.

Edutainment in the form of multi-media learning games have long been popular in schools and even in our homes.  Action video games often are treated as leisure time “toys” and even time-wasters.  We laud the fitness addition of WiiFit, FootGaming, Gamercize and other ways to exergame our way to wellness, but the connection that active video game play to real learning and enhanced brain function has been more slowly accepted.

Playing action video games on a regular basis can alter a player’s attention skills. FootGaming (TM) is one ExerLearning strategy (R) that connects the use of active controllers to computers and existing learning and game software. The FootPOWR computer peripheral is a fantastic, active mouse.  The Gamercize adds activity to the use of a computer via stepping. 

Many success stories are linked to adding physical activity to the learning day.  The easiest way to add such activity is by harnessing active controllers and games students (and their teachers) already enjoy. 

According to a recent paper by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), games, when developed correctly and used appropriately, can engage players in learning that is specifically applicable to school curriculum—and teachers can leverage the learning in these games without disrupting the worlds of either “play” or school.  ExerLearning founder, Judy Shasek, poses this question, “If we are going to spend valuable time in busy school days adding various computer games, why not connect that learning/focus time with much-needed physical activity?

“Moving Learning Games Forward: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Openness,” by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen of the Education Arcade, an MIT research division that explores games that promote learning through play, explains why various video and educational games have seen an increase in popularity: mainly owing to the advances in consumer games.

“Consumer games are also changing the perception of the nature of video games, making them more accepted in a greater diversity of places. For example, gaming is becoming part of … the activities in senior centers, libraries, museums,” and the workplace, says the report. “They are also providing cheaper and easier ways to reach everyone, making open access to games a reality.”

The report credits new gaming platforms and a “sinking edutainment ship” as factors that have led to an increased education interest in gaming.

A report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, “Game Changer: Investing in digital play to advance children’s learning and health,” claims that on an average day, children as young as eight spend as many hours engaged in media activity as they spend in school. Seventy-five percent of American children play computer and video games, it says.

The report, said Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, aims to help answer the question: “Can digital games help reshape our nation’s approach to learning and growing?”

The center, which supports research, innovation, and investment in digital media technologies to advance children’s learning, interviewed experts in learning, health, and civic participation games–as well as scholarly skeptics, says Levine–who are directly involved in research, design, and policy development in the field of gaming.

The report analyzed issues raised by the interviewees through a review of current literature and news sources.

“We conclude that current approaches to solving key education and child-health challenges insufficiently leverage the ubiquitous digital media that currently pervade children’s lives,” said Levine. When activity turns this computer game play into ExerLearning (R) the demonstrated potential of digital media could become a ‘game changer’ in advancing children’s prospects in both learning and fitness in the decade ahead.

The report says that children can learn content and 21st-century skills, create media, and think of systems as a whole through successful digital games. ExerLearning adds fitness, balance, focus, eye-foot coordination, leadership and teamwork to the mix.

With so many children and young adults playing video games each day, researchers are exploring how exposure to consistent game playing affects brain functions and brain plasticity–the brain’s ability to change throughout life.

Daphne Bavelier, professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester in New York and a recent presenter at the National Center for Technology Innovation’s annual Technology Innovators Conference, says her research suggests that playing action video games on a regular basis can alter a player’s attention skills. Casual game leaders from PopCap and the team at East Carolinea University led by Dr. Carmen Russoniello have published similar findings. The popular book, SPARK, by Harvard’s Dr. John Ratey reinforces the value of physical activity embedded in the learning process even more soundly.

Skills that are enhanced by action video game training include low-level vision owing to enhanced contrast sensitivity function; various aspects of attention, such as monitoring several objects at once or searching through a cluttered scene; more complex task constructs such as multi-tasking and task-switching; and a general speeding up of perceptual processing.

Bavelier added that while these brain functions could develop with all video games, action games push the speed of learning.

“Action games have diverse environments that don’t let gamers lose attention. They also let gamers explore their environments, and this is good. Most also have a reward system for completing actions successfully, which has been shown to be a strong motivator to playing,” said Bavelier.

By studying how various video games affect brain function, Bavelier and her colleagues at the University of Rochester hope to determine how performance can be altered by experience (the length of game playing) and to characterize the factors that favor the transfer of learning (in other words, to identify the aspects of video games help people to learn). These ongoing behavioral investigations are combined with brain imaging techniques, including MRI and fMRI, to allow for a more direct characterization of the brain systems that are modified by video-game playing.

In “The development of attention skills in action video game players,” Bavelier’s most recent study, Bavelier and her colleagues use the Attentional Network Test (ANT) to illustrate how action video game players of all ages have enhanced attentional skills, thereby helping them make faster correct responses to targets.

Bavelier said while she has not yet studied how increased attentional skills and other brain functions affected by action video-game playing can translate into classroom learning, other researchers at the University of Oregon have begun those studies.

At the University of Oregon, researchers are studying how the brain functions affected by video games in turn can affect learning.

Helen Neville, director of the university’s Brain Development Lab, is using MRI and electrophysiological techniques to study the brain’s development and plasticity.

As researchers begin to build the pieces of what makes a good educational game, and why and how gaming affects learning, the Joan Ganz Cooney report has a set of recommendations to jump-start a national “game-changing” action plan that addresses gaming in education.

Shasek, who developed ExerLearning and the popular FootPOWR computer controller agrees with the Joan Ganz Cooney report that stated, “Games [promote] understanding, motivation, and enjoyment and are terrific at immersing players in complex, feedback-rich problem spaces. And while they are most often not sufficient in and of themselves for a course of study, they can help many students advance beyond the temporary memorization of facts and procedures, attainments that are usually lost when classes stop.”  FootGaming’s TEAM e3 program has connected leadership, video games, FootGaming and success for many at-risk students who have become successful and productive students.  We welcome your comments and anecdotes as you add physical activity and computer-delivered games and content in your classroom or home.

When budget cuts made it necessary to cut programs, Redmond School District like hundreds of others around the country cut the standard art, music and PE.  For many, these subjects are “extras.”

This is a sad state of affairs. For many students with musical aptitudes, often struggling in reading or social studies, music was one reason to come to school and to feel like an accomplished part of the culture.  Those who communicate and find satisfying learning via art, losing that opportunity is devastating.

Each of those areas of study, while extremely important, pale when compared to the importance of PE and regular physical activity breaks for all students throughout the learning day – every day.  Luckily, leaders at the District level and teachers are taking the time and effort to re-think physical activity. None are more exciting than these teachers featured in Patrick Cliff’s Bend Bulletin article from October 24.

Tom McCall Elementary is the host site of the ExerLearning Lab field study.  Teachers leading the program, Heather Renz and Michelle Zistel are busier than ever this year.  Adding FootPOWR active computer peripherals and additional exergaming stations requires a process to keep things orderly and to make sure students gets lots of opportunity to be active.  Exerlearning comes with a process that helps teachers make schedules and train students leaders called TEAM e3.

To manage the schedules, each class has a poster board listing all student names. Student leaders keep track of how often each student uses the games, making certain that everyone uses the program an hour each week.  Destiny Dunnigan, 9, like the program and said, “It’s been kind of amazing playing video games in class.” The students know that the video games are for a lot more than just an active past time.  They have studied the brain research that solidly connects regular rhythmic physical activity with increased academic success and even physical changes in the brain.  Using a slideshow called brainy Stuff, the students teach family and peers this important information.

Until school Distrcits make the same connection between physical activity and learning that researchers all over the world have, we won’t get the optimal academic success we are working so hard to achieve.  Meanwhile the students at tom MCall are having a great time being pioneers and leaders.

 Nine-year-old Madison Rodin stood next to the pad, trying to catch her breath after a round of FootGaming. “You get great exercise from it,” Madison said. Madison is one of the TEAM e3 leaders and takes pride in mentoring her peers.

Renz said her students also use the program to learn about music. On top of ExerLearning, both Renz and Zistel use visiting teachers — volunteers from the community — to teach sections on art and music. That saves time as they prepare for their regular teaching load, Renz said. Still, ExerLearning is at the core of their curriculum changes.

“When the students get moving … it warms up their brains,” Renz said.

Teachers said the ExerLearning program also helps students develop leadership skills through the TEAM e3 program.

Dan Collins, 9, is a leader in Zistel’s classroom. To become leaders, Dan and the others wrote essays describing why they wanted to lead their classmates. Dan said the experience has given him confidence and helped him get to know his classmates.

“I kind of feel like I’m the big one helping others,” Dan said.

Renz has used the ExerLearning program for more than five years in her classroom. As she faced teaching gym for the first time in her 30-plus-year career, Renz realized her kids could stay fit using the program’s step pads.

“My initial reaction (to the cuts) was, ‘Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?’” Renz said. “Then I realized, ‘Wait, I’m OK.’”

There are as many reasons a student in elementary, middle or high school might be labeled as “at-risk” as there are at-risk students.  No one program or reform initiative can meet the needs of  even a majority. As we work to reduce the number of actual dropouts and those who mentally disengage themselves from the learning process while heading toward graduation we are often frustrated.

A personalization of  school – helping kids feel engaged and part of a community – can be a big factor in keeping them engaged in school. An engaged student comes to school more often. They have fewer incidences of negative behavior and they lead in ways that can transfer to success in the workplace and in life.

Our TEAM e3 program will not directly increase test scores or improve reading levels – but the combination of valuable work roles at school, increased physical activity during the school day and leadership have led to academic success time and time again.  We look forward to hearing your questions and comments after you explre our TEAM e3 online summary.  The full program manual can be yours, contact us now.

We have always appreciated the support of ClearChoice Healthplan. When Cynthia Kane invited us to join her at the free health screening for Bend athletes in August we jumped at the chance to share FootGaming and video game activity with more families. Enjoy the video then ask us how we can add interest and fun to your health program.
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