26 October 2009

ELSPA delighted by Change4Life endorsement

The Entertainment and Leisure Publishers Association (ELSPA) today welcomed the decision by the Department of Health to endorse the health and exercise benefits of the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus videogame – making it the first game to be allowed to use the NHS’s Change4Life logo in future advertising.  The Change4Life programme is a campaign by the NHS to persuade people to take regular exercise and to eat healthily. 

Mike Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA, said today: “We are thrilled that active videogames are finally being recognised by the Government for contributing to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Since the negative portrayal of videogames in a Change4Life advertisement earlier this year, ELSPA worked with the Department of Health to gain proper recognition of the many benefits which active gaming can bring to an energetic lifestyle. Children and adults across the UK already know that dancing, jumping or even boxing within an active videogame have real exercise benefits. We are encouraged by this positive step to gain wider recognition of the health benefits that videogames can offer to individuals, families and communities alike.”

It is also possible that the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus, an updated version of the Wii Fit game, will be allowed to use the Change4Life logo on the product itself from next year.  This new version offers players an on-screen exercise guide for activities from yoga to hula-hooping and also allows them to tailor their exercise programmes to respond to their specific needs.

A spokesman for the Department for Health has reportedly said that it was not endorsing a video game, but rather an exercise regime. “Active video games, where kids need to jump up and down or dance about as part of the game, are a great way to get kids moving,” he said.

Active gaming can have many applications; for example, Nintendo’s Wii console has already been used to help recuperating patients to exercise by Seacroft Hospital, Leeds.

- ENDS -


Contacts:
For all press enquiries, please contact the ELSPA press office on T: +44 (0)20 7300 6143 or E: press@elspa.com

About ELSPA
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association represents all the major publishers of games in the UK. Founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the country’s interactive leisure software industry, membership includes companies publishing and distributing leisure software in the UK. As a gateway to Europe, ELSPA works to protect, promote and provide for the interests of all its members as well as addressing issues that affect the industry as a whole such as age ratings, child safety and IP protection. 

ELSPA works with members and media to illustrate the beneficial contributions that the UK videogames industry makes to the British economy as well as its influence in other industries. In addition ELSPA works with GfK Chart-Track to compile weekly, monthly and annual charts and sales reports for the UK market.

back