Hey, I like video games as much as the next guy… if the next guy is Mahatma Gandhi. Reuters (reported in The Age out of Australia) shared research on the cardiovascular effects of the video game "Dance Dance Revolution" on overweight kids. They found that while playing the game increased heart rate and burned more calories (than, for example, sitting on their butts watching other people dance on MTV), essentially, it made no difference to their weight or fitness. 

Undaunted, the researchers suggested that an improved version of the game that required arm as well as leg movements might do the trick.

Video games to get fit? Come on, folks! What are we, living in a bad spoof of the Matrix?

My biggest fear is that some researcher discovers the video game that does work in combatting childhood obesity. Soon our schools' PE classes will be filled with computers and wireless transmitters, measuring the digital effects of disjointed movements and hyper-stimulated brains.

My friends, it's TV and video and computers that got us into this mess. Do we really trust these technologies to get us out of it?

I know, I know, I'm writing on a computer and you're reading on a computer, so who am I to complain?

Yes, but I don't try to convince you to get fit and healthy by staying here. Get what you need, and get on with it! Go outside and play, climb a mountain, swim in water, roll in a meadow, build a wall, dance with another human to funky music without needing to stare at a screen.

We only need to "get motivated" when we set ourselves joyless tasks. Let's reconnect with our own bodies, with each other, and with the natural world that made us what we are. Pull the plug, America! It's not too late.