Lisa Kakinami

Lisa Kakinami

Role: Invited Speaker
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Math and Statistics, Concordia University
Talk Title: Exergaming and being physically active: Findings from an observational study of young adults

Abstract:

Approximately 75% of adults fail to meet national guidelines for physical activity, with commonly reported reasons including a lack of time and lack of interest. However, approximately half of all adults play video games on a weekly basis. The majority of these adults reportedly do so for 2 hours or more per week. Over the last 15 years, a variety of exergames and exergaming consoles have been introduced into the market. In contrast to traditional video games, exergames require participants to physically move in order to advance in the game. Thus, whether exergames are a useful modality for physical activity has been of increasing interest. Indeed experimental studies demonstrate that exergaming can significantly increase energy expenditure and contribute to minutes of physical activity, but observational studies are limited. Findings from a cross-sectional sample of young adults in Montreal, Canada (n=829) to determine whether exergaming was associated with meeting physical activity guidelines will be presented.

Bio:
Lisa Kakinami is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Math and Statistics in collaboration with the PERFORM Centre. She received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Rochester where she studied the risk of heart disease in people with HIV (with or without Hepatitis C infection). Her general research interests are in obesity and heart disease risk in children and adults. Her work is focused on 1) improving our understanding of how our behaviours, lifestyles, and life circumstances affect our risk for obesity and heart disease, 2) improving our understanding of how we measure obesity, and 3) investigating how exergames can promote physical activity and decrease the risk for obesity.