London - Playing video games could help new mothers get back to their pre-pregnancy weight, according to a study.
Researchers found they rapidly shed their baby weight after exercising using active video games every other day for just three months.
Eight women, who had given birth the previous year, used Wii Fit consoles to mimic the movements of activities including jogging, yoga, skate boarding and hula hooping for 45 minutes three or four times a week. At the start of the study, they were around 18lb (about 8kg) heavier than before giving birth. After three months of exercising at home, they had shed more than half of this – an average of 11lb (5kg).
The amount of body fat also fell by up to 28 percent, and the average woman dropped from being borderline overweight to being comfortably within the normal weight zone.
Writing in the International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Current Research, the researchers said it is unlikely the women would have got back in shape so quickly if they had not taken part in the study.
Dr Kirsty Elliott-Sale, a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, added: ‘Being able to exercise in this way, in the comfort of your own home, means that women are not hampered by the challenges of traditional exercise.’- Daily Mail