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Can Exergaming Prevent Low Back Pain Among Adolescents?

cessiblesettings.Thestudydemonstratedthatindividualswhohadpoorper-
formance on the Biering-Sørensen muscular endurance test were more likely
to have LBP than those who demonstrated greater performance.
Exergaming refers to video games that require partial or full-body move-
ments to play, with the participant’s body functioning as the de facto con-
troller (Zeng and Gao 2016). According to Sunyue et al. (2019), over the past
decade, exergaming’s technological advances have affected the quality of
population-based exergaming programmes and led to the creation of novel
interactive exercise tactics. Specifically, exergaming combines interactive
exercise equipment and activities to get children moving, capitalizing on
children’s fascination with computers and video engagement. Despite non-
exergame video games’ potential negative physiological health impact (e.g.
obesity), exergaming has the potential to assist in the promotion of healthier
lifestyles among schoolchildren (Biddiss and Irwin 2010).
According to Comeras-Chueca et al.’s (2021) systematic review, physical in-
activity and poor motor skills are problems facing today’s schoolchildren. Ex-
ergamingcouldbeanattractivemethodtohelpaddressthem.Theaimofthe
studywasto investigatetheimpact ofexergamingon health-relatedphysical
fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents. The most-used
devices in the interventions were gaming consoles such as Xbox 360 with
Kinect, Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 2, and dance mats. The interventions
ranged from 6 weeks to 12 months with frequency of sessions ranging from
2–7 days per week and each session lasting 10–60 min. The control groups ei-
ther received another intervention that did not include exergaming, such as
physical education or exercise sessions, learning sessions, or were simply in-
structed to continue with their usual daily routines. The results of the studies
showed that exergaming is a useful technique for increasing various aspects
of health-related physical fitness as well as a promising method for enhanc-
ing motor competence in children and adolescents.

Conclusion
Concerning LBP, epidemiological studies found that LBP affects not only the
adult population, but also children and adolescents. Several studies found
that there is a relationship between decreasing trunk stability and the de-
velopment of LBP. As a result, Mahdavi found that trunk stability exercises
are highly recommended for individuals who suffer from LBP and also for
the healthy individual as a preventive approach. However, physical inactiv-
ity, such as not being physically active during school breaks, watching TV
and video gaming increases LBP prevalence.

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