Seniors Using Wii for Exercise (they're everywhere!)

This article ties right in with our planned video shoot of seniors using the Nintendo Wii to get exercise. There are actually a lot of articles about seniors using the Wii to become more active. This article points out that Wii use may help people lose up to 27 pounds a year, and it's also notable because the lady looks very much like the nice silhouette that Nicole designed for our web page.

There are also a lot of articles about soldiers using Wii to rehabilitate from injuries. In some cases they're missing fingers or have some other difficulty, but the Wii helps them re-learn their coordination.

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Elderly 'addicted' to Nintendo Wii at care homeBy Sophie Borland
Last Updated: 2:27am BST 17/09/2007
The bridge games have been abandoned and the crosswords put to one side. Instead, the elderly residents of one retirement home in a Birmingham suburb have opted for a slightly more advanced means of entertainment.

Flossie Chambers, 89, playing ten pin bowling
Pensioners aged 80 and above at the Sunrise Senior Living Centre in Edgbaston are now hooked to the Nintendo Wii, the latest hi-tech video games console. Taking it in turns with the hand-held controls, the pensioners go head to head against one another in the various games.The console, which costs about £200, reacts to body motion. The games require each player to carry out appropriate actions depending on what they want their character to do.
For example Wii Tennis, one of the most popular games, requires players to swing their controls as if they were holding a racquet. The golf game works in a similar way.
The craze at the home all started three weeks ago when one of the chefs brought in a console belonging to his son and lent it to staff for the weekend.
Residents, who are aged between 80 and 103, were so enthralled by the games that they demanded that staff purchase one immediately.

Diane Rudge, the executive director at the centre, said: "They were absolutely hooked.
"They're up of their armchairs and moving about and there's a real team spirit.
"We're going to invest in a whole library of games so they don't get bored."
Bowling has proved to be the most popular game at the home where 90-year-old Barrie Edgar is emerging as a keen star.
Mr Edgar said: "It's fiercely competitive. We're all addicts and it's really bridged the generation gap.
"I'm so glad they got us one of own."
Next month staff are organising a special tournament amongst the residents with a prize of gift vouchers on offer for the winner.
The games system has proved to be such a success that executives at Sunrise Senior Living are now planning to buy one for each of their 15 residential homes.
If this goes ahead, inter-care home tournaments would take place with teams of elderly residents travelling to other care homes via mini-buses for matches.
Dr Lorna Layward, research manager at Help the Aged, said: "Anything that gets elderly people up off their feet and trying something new is a very good thing.
"There have been no studies into the health benefits effects of this game on the elderly, but we are always encouraging them to stay physically and mentally active."
Such games consoles have already been shown to burn up calories and help weight loss.
Earlier this year a study by John Moores University in Liverpool found that regular use could help shift 27lb (12.25kg) a year.