Apr 29 2009
Anti-obesity TV ads to promote ‘active videogames’
From guardian.co.uk:
The government is to launch an anti-obesity TV campaign that aims to promote the virtue of children playing videogames such as those for Nintendo’s Wii that require physical activity.
This marks a rapid U-turn by the government, weeks after it angered the games industry with a press campaign which implied that sitting inside playing games could lead to an early death.
The Department of Health’s new TV campaign, the latest stage of the government’s £75m anti-obesity advertising strategy, aims to push the message that not enough children are doing the recommended 60 minutes a day of some form of physical activity.
In the TV ad, which breaks tonight, the animated Change4Life family find ways to give kids 60 minutes of activity a day.
Solutions include playing videogames that require physical exertion – typified by products such as Nintendo’s popular Wii Sports and Wii Fit games franchises – as well as walking to school and playing in the park.
The government is to launch an anti-obesity TV campaign that aims to promote the virtue of children playing videogames such as those for Nintendo’s Wii that require physical activity. 



