British Game Biz to Work with Government on Obesity Issue

British Game Biz to Work with Government on Obesity Issue

January 24, 2008
Should the video game industry have a role in combating the obesity epidemic?

MCV reports that ELSPA, the trade group representing U.K. game publishers, has said it looks forward to working on the issue with the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

As detailed by the Times Online, British officials have unveiled a £372 million anti-obesity initiative. Included among its recommendations are limits on the amount of time which children are permitted to play video games. From the MCV report:
Yesterday’s Department of Health action plan revealed yesterday stated that it will “Set up a working group with the entertainment technology industry to ensure that they continue to develop tools to allow parents to manage the time that their children spend watching TV or playing sedentary games, online and much more widely.”

Thanks: GP European correspondent Mark Kelly
Posted in

Comments

Submitted by koku - January 24, 2008 at 9:53 am -0500
id hack the timer. either way, if games make people fat, why are all of my gamer friends underweight?
Submitted by E. Zachary Knight - January 24, 2008 at 8:27 am -0500
With Microsoft's new parent timer on the 360, this is a good start. I am glad to see that the game industry is taking a positive interest in fighting obesity. We know that we are not the sole cause of obesity, but games are a contributing factor.

I hope that the US industry takes some initiative on this issue as well.
Submitted by kurisu7885 - January 24, 2008 at 8:42 am -0500
Wii fit is another good start in this direction.
Submitted by Duncan - January 24, 2008 at 8:57 am -0500
the whole concept of having to drag the government in in the first place is just tragic. When will the parents start taking charge of their kids instead of waiting for a report stating the bleedin' obvious that sedentary kids get fat?

While they're at it, they may want to do some kind of research into the link between school fields being sold off to build housing estates on, and obesity in children, but that's probably too much of a contentious issue.
Submitted by Adrian Lopez - January 24, 2008 at 9:00 am -0500
Parents keep looking for a way to raise their kids on autopilot. Enough!

This is NOT a technical problem, but a personal one. Stop feeding your kids the kinds of food that makes them fat, and quit being so damn paranoid about allowing them outside for play and exercise.

Obesity is the parent's fault. Fighting it is not the game industry's responsibility.
Submitted by MonkeyFace - January 24, 2008 at 9:04 am -0500
As long as they dont make it manditory for every game everywhere to have a built in timer that instantly logs everyone off after a certain amount of time(or something to that effect) im fine with it.
Submitted by kurisu7885 - January 24, 2008 at 9:25 am -0500
@MonkeyFace

Watch them demand it for WoW.
Submitted by GoodRobotUs - January 24, 2008 at 11:16 am -0500
Recommendations I don't have a problem with, people don't have to obey them by law or anything, and like all things in life, it helps to teach self-moderation for later in life.

They are guidelines, much like the ESRB ratings, they serve to inform, not to command.
Submitted by BlackIce, Dragunov Marksman - January 24, 2008 at 11:32 am -0500
I have absolutely no problem with this.
Submitted by Artifex - January 24, 2008 at 12:08 pm -0500
I'm assuming that the action is voluntary on the part of the ELSPA, but I have a problem with this in that it's a basic admitance of guilt on the part of the British gaming industry.

As many other posters have pointed out before me, gaming is not to blame (or be held responsible) for a lack of physical activity in children, that is squarely in the realm of a parent's responsibility to monitor.
Submitted by King of Fiji - January 24, 2008 at 12:50 pm -0500
I'm going to manage time by threatening to beat the crap out of whatever my kids are addicted to with a bat just how people used to do it back before the invention of technology.

But this ain't hurting anyone so I'm not complaining.
Submitted by TheBird - January 24, 2008 at 2:23 pm -0500
parents are the ones not making sure their kids don't grow large enough to have their own gravitational field

nothing makes kids fat except parents who don't pay attention to their kid's health
Submitted by Father Time - January 24, 2008 at 4:04 pm -0500
Calling the obesity problem an 'epidemic' is wrong on a lot of levels.
(One of which, is that it's implying that it's something you can 'catch')
Submitted by Kincyr - January 24, 2008 at 7:48 pm -0500
@Father Time:

coincidently, I found this
Moral Panics have several distinct features:
...
3. Emotive language and images: Such as monsters, decay and crisis to emphasize the acuteness of the problem. Medical language can also be used out of context such as the word epidemic.


(taken from the 'Moral Panic' Wikipedia entry)
Submitted by Athest - January 24, 2008 at 9:41 pm -0500
Iunno how I really feel about this idea. I like that the game companies are trying to make better restrictions and giving the power to the parents, but the whole government involvement rubs me the wrong way. Who knows, maybe this is a good step forward towards cooperation instead of finger pointing. Epidemic... can you really call a choice an epidemic? Is it at a high rate, sure, but for god sakes it's not a disease, its a choice, that I can assure you, and I've had a hell of a problem with weight control myself. You know what you need to combat obesity? Low fat / sugar foods, moderate - regular exercise, and maybe some pills, glucophage has really helped me out.
Submitted by GoodRobotUs - January 25, 2008 at 4:46 am -0500
While I agree that the obesity is actually caused by eating, not by being sedentary, considering that the advertising of junk food throughout the Children's TV period is illegal in the UK, I'd certainly say that this is not over-emphasising the role of game-playing, all it's really saying is..

'Oi! McDonalds'.....No! And Parents? Try to make sure your kids get some exercise, k?'
Submitted by NovaBlack - January 25, 2008 at 5:54 am -0500
QFTW!!



''Duncan Says:

the whole concept of having to drag the government in in the first place is just tragic. When will the parents start taking charge of their kids instead of waiting for a report stating the bleedin’ obvious that sedentary kids get fat?

While they’re at it, they may want to do some kind of research into the link between school fields being sold off to build housing estates on, and obesity in children, but that’s probably too much of a contentious issue. "
Submitted by GameBiker - January 30, 2008 at 11:27 am -0500
Kids are not overweight because they play video games. Kids are overweight because they eat too much and don't get any physical activity. We've been making a bike that plugs into any video game console and lets the rider become a part of the game. The faster she pedals and the better she steers, the more points she gets. It's addictive...just like video games. www.gamebike.com

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 10/06/08 at 08:43am
Paulrus: 1up.com just reported that MadWorld may not seee release in "censor-heavy" countries like Australia, Germany, and even Japan. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170362
Posted 10/06/08 at 07:28am
Austin_Lewis: they're all about a month old, but if they do it again, I'll be sure to post the link here
Posted 10/06/08 at 06:41am
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : Hold up, Austin. Can we have the link to that Yahoo! Story?
Posted 10/06/08 at 12:26am
Austin_Lewis: I've been reading on yahoo things I read on here three days earlier, nearly word for word. I've insulted the writers, too.
Posted 10/05/08 at 09:29pm
PHOENIXZERO: @Austin_Lewis Just watched the video, I like how they mention Australia banning violent games and then show a list of games that includes some that weren't violent. <_< Think they could have given GP a little more credit too.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:52pm
gamepolitics: Plus, with Yahoo's huge traffic, if they want to steer some peeps to GP I'm okay with that, too! ;-)
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:51pm
gamepolitics: thx, Austin, but it seems to be more along the lines of fair use.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:16pm
Austin_Lewis: My link is to yahoo's playback or whatever they're calling it, which nearly always shows a gamepolitics article and seems to
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:15pm
Austin_Lewis: plagarize Gamepolitics' works and use his site, maybe without his permission. I just felt he ought be informed of it.
Posted 10/05/08 at 08:03pm
J.Alpha.Gamma: This is an interesting read: http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200810/N08.1001.1532.23011.htm?Page=1
Posted 10/05/08 at 03:34pm
Haggard: Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 in under 3 weeks now :D :D
Posted 10/05/08 at 03:09pm
Austin_Lewis: HEY DENNIS, CHECK THE LINK: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-13/1246552
Posted 10/05/08 at 10:19am
HarmlessBunny: @black manta: Certainly felt like I did when I had a flu earlier this week :\
Posted 10/05/08 at 09:58am
black manta: "You have died of dysentery." ;)
Posted 10/04/08 at 09:06pm
DarkTetsuya: EZK: all that's missing is the 'rearview mirror' image he posted some time ago
Posted 10/04/08 at 07:30pm
VideolandHero: I prefer Oregon Trail.
Posted 10/04/08 at 07:08pm
Shadow Darkman Anti-Thesis of : BORING DAY IS EVIL
Posted 10/04/08 at 04:07pm
King of Fiji: @Ghede: Holy crap you just brought back nostalgia by mentioning that game. T_TT
Posted 10/04/08 at 03:19pm
Ghede: Number munchers is the only school game for me. MUNCH THOSE NUMBERS.
Posted 10/04/08 at 11:21am
ZippyDSMlee: nighstalker160:an industry that lives on selling crap to witless sheeple.
Login or register to post shouts