Some time ago, Bob Coffield of the Health Care Law Blog, brought to my attention a project that was going on in his home state of West Virginia. Since the launch of the pilot activity in 2004, West Virginia University (WVU) has been implementing a program to help put DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) into the classrooms of elementary, middle and high schools around across the state.

Prior to the unveiling of the school initiative, WVU conducted a research study based on students who played DDR regularly.

From the project website:

In the pilot phase of this research project, a study was conducted on 49 at-risk for overweight or already overweight children in West Virginia aged 7 to 12. The purpose of the pilot project was two-fold: (1) to assess the prevalence of endothelial dysfunction (the decreased ability of the blood vessels to dilate in response to increased blood flow, which is thought to be the initiating factor in both cardiovascular disease [CVD] and Type 2 diabetes) in at-risk and overweight children (2) to assess the effects of a 12-week home-based aerobic exercise program using DDR endothelial function and other risk factor associated with both CVD and type 2 diabetes in at-risk and overweight children.

The project has been a great help to schools around the state and the website even has testimonials from the actual teachers who have been exposed to the program:

I am the lead physical education teacher in Kanawha County now and I came to Morgantown last year to receive the DDR. It was a great opportunity!!! Thank you for that and if there is anything new and exciting happening please let me know so I can pass it on to the physical education teachers here in the county!!!!

It’s no secret that the music and movement based video game has been a big hit around the world. As we continue to make strides in exergaming, especially for young people, games like DDR will be absolutely necessary to usher in new ways to keep them healthy. I really hope this continues to catch fire in schools across the country.

Finally, here is a news clip from WBAL in Maryland on another local elementary school making use of DDR for youth fitness: Exergaming Kids exercise through video games