 "Gaming for health")
Batting against the perception that video games stimulate violent attitudes and are unproductive, doctors across the globe are embracing the idea that video games could pave the way for good health.
Amidst the flurry of new studies that hint at the many benefits gaming can provide, a white paper published in the peer-reviewed Games for Health Journal focuses on the implications of using video games for child development.
Titled 'Games for Health for Children - Current Status and Needed Research,' this research offers a road map on how to use gaming for good outcomes, says Tom Baranowski, lead author of the paper.
"The available evidence reveals that 'Games for Health' (also called G4H) are very promising to prevent and treat obesity, reduce stress, prevent smoking, and contribute many positive health outcomes among children," says Baranowski.
Doctors in the country are fast warming up to video games, too. "They have a stimulating effect in improving memory and concentration, besides helping children develop social skills," says Ankur Sachdeva, a psychiatrist based in Faridabad near Delhi.
Kolkata-based ophthalmologist Somen Ghosh found that video games could be used to fix 'lazy eye,' a complex problem that was earlier thought to be very difficult to diagnose if it wasn't detected early.
Alternatively, video games are also being used in occupational therapy. Mumbai-based occupational therapist Saif Bijliwala believes that not only do these games help children become more dexterous, they also teach children how to maintain balance and use space. He heads Jump Start, a therapy centre that works with children with special needs.
"I use video games as an occupational therapy with most of the children I work with. Most of them are developmentally-challenged. I have found that motion sensor games prove to be very helpful in the child's development," adds Bijliwala. Much like Sachdeva, Bijliwala recommends games such as Nintendo, Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation for children.
But one should proceed with caution when it comes to internet-based games, says Sachdeva. "Traditionally, we have always known television- or console-based games. But online games have become very popular these days and there is no time slot for playing these," he adds.
Children have increasingly begun to stay awake at odd hours to coordinate with a player who might be sitting in the US, elaborates Sachdeva. In the recent past, parents have approached him with multiple cases where children have stopped going to school owing to their gaming habits.
The time spent on games shouldn't exceed an hour or two. The games are productive provided they are played in a controlled and supervised environment, otherwise they can easily become addictive, he cautions. Among Sachdeva's patients are two Delhi-based brothers who played for 18 hours straight and preferred wetting their pants over taking a break "lest their players die in the game". They didn't even realise when their house was broken into, twice.
"That was a serious case, but incidents of children playing for 12-14 hours a day is becoming common," he adds. Most of Sachdeva's patients come from nuclear families where with both parents working, there is no one to supervise the children.
"They come back after school and have easy access to mobile, TV and wi-fi throughout the day till the parents come back. Even then, after the parents go to bed, children continue to have access to the internet," he says. "This has shifted the entire spectrum of gaming - what used to be good can now easily be bad."
Besides motion-sensor games, Sachdeva also recommends playing brain-stimulating games such as chess and Sudoku online. "These games help keep memories intact and those who play them don't suffer from memory loss early in life."
