Nintendo were enjoying an unexpected publicity boost the other day with the announcement that the Wii could provide one answer to combating the growing obesity epidemic in children.

The announcement was made by Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, who said that interactive computer games could play a major role in reducing obesity in the future, as kids are simply not doing enough normal exercise.

The announcement was made after a pilot scheme went underway in the East Midlands, which wanted to find out just how useful interactive consoles could be in the fight against obesity. The East Midlands has seen a huge rise in child obesity levels over recent years, and was considered a prime spot to target.

The results were so encouraging that Sir Liam Donaldson claimed that although video games have been one of the major causes of child obesity, they could now be used to combat it. After all, if you can’t stop kids playing them, then why not use them to get kids healthier.

According to the findings of the report, energetic games can increase heart rates and can lead to an increase of 42% in the amount of calories burnt by children playing them compared to the calories burnt if they were sitting down. This means that one hour of play per day would lead to a 7 1/2lb loss in body fat over the course of a year. On top of that, they can also be played safely at home, especially important for obese children who could hurt themselves through traditional exercise.

Sir Liam Donaldson has said that the results would now be used to “develop a strategy” which would “promote involvement in physical activity.”