The Effect of Exergame Education on Balance in Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exergame training which can be conducted on stable floor; at school with smart board and at home with TV screen, on students’ balance improvement. 53 students with age average of 10,25±0.504 were voluntarily participated to this research. In this experimental research, pretest-posttest with control group model was used as a testing model. Participant students were divided into exergame group and control group by using random sampling method. While balance training with ‘nintendo wii’ game console was applied to exergame group three days a week during eight weeks, control group didn’t take any application. For both of the groups, pretest-posttest was evaluated through static balance measurement with ‘balance error scoring system (BESS)’ and dynamic balance with ‘techno-body measuring device’. Furthermore, development level between these two groups was observed. Pretest results comparison was conducted with unpaired t-test. In the analysis of development level between groups, for pretest-posttest values repetitive measurement, two-way anova analysis was used. In pretest measurements, It was not observed any difference between control and exargames applied groups dynamic and static balance ability (p>,05).By the way, in static and dynamic posttest measurement, It was observed significant differences between groups in favor of exergame group (p<,05). In this study, It was considered that balance training with exergame dramatically improves both static and dynamic balance abilities. As a result, It can be suggested that exergame should be used for improving the balance in children as an alternative training method both in the schools and houses.