Dr. Zan Gao, assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Lab (PAEL), published an article in the September issue of Journal of Sport and Health Science. The purpose of this study was to compare children’s physical activity levels, self-efficacy, and enjoyment when experiencing Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) and aerobic dance.
Gao’s research on this topic was also recently featured in the CEHD Vision 2020 Blog in an article titled, “Yes, Video Games Can Combat Childhood Obesity.”

The findings in the Journal of Sport and Health Science article parallel the feature in the Vision 2020 Blog. They found that children exerted mild-to-moderate physical activity levels while participating in DDR and moderate-to-vigorous activity levels while participating in aerobic dance. While the aerobic dance provided higher levels of physical activity, children’s enjoyment and self-efficacy increased as they played DDR. The study hypothesized that the enjoyment was due to gradually mastering the skill, mimicking the dancer on the screen, receiving complements from the game and peers, and the encouragement to play at the child’s personal expertise level. The study concluded that traditional physical activities and sports should not be replaced by interactive video games, but instead health care professionals and educators should use exercise games as an additional way to promote physical activity.
The full citation is as follows:
Gao, Z., Zhang, T., & Stodden, D. (2013). Children’s physical activity levels and their psychological correlated in interactive dance versus aerobic dance. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 2, 146-151.