To exercise more, get your game on

In this study, participants earned points by meeting daily physical activity goals, progressing through higher levels by keeping up that behavior, and ultimately winning prizes. But games are not just for single players. “Being on a team encourages cooperation, and people egg each other on. And when different teams compete against one another, that adds another layer of incentive. It’s like the difference between playing solitaire versus bridge,” Dr. Kawachi explains. The study, published online Oct. 2, 2017, by JAMA Internal Medicine, relied on practices inspired by behavioral economics. People dislike losing even more than they like gaining, so the families were awarded 70 points every Monday, which they stood to lose if they did not meet their exercise goals. Every day, the family would keep or lose 10 points based on whether the group met their daily step goal. The added hitch: the step goal was based only on one randomly chosen family member, which helped to encourage everyone to try hard, notes Dr. Kawachi, who wrote an invited commentary published alongside the study. Measurable gains The gaming period of the study lasted three months, during which the gaming families boosted their activity levels by about 1,700 steps — more than twice the gains achieved by the nongaming control families. Over the next three months, everyone kept tracking his or her steps. The gamers lost some of their initial gains but still continued to outperform the nongamers. Although thes...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Source Type: blogs