Effects of Active Video Games on Parental Support among Overweight and Obese Adolescents in China: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of AVG intervention on the parental support of overweight and obese male adolescents under a family-based parental involvement model. A cluster randomised controlled trial (C-RCT) was conducted with 12- to 14-year-old participants, divided into three groups: (1) Parental Involvement in Active Video Games (PIAVG), (2) Single Player Active Video Games (SPAVG), and (3) Control (watching TV-WTV). The intervention lasted for two weeks, during which changes in parental support levels were assessed at baseline and post-intervention. No significant changes were observed within the three groups. However, notably, the PIAVG group demonstrated slightly improvement in the measured outcomes than the WTV group in the inter-group comparison, but it has no statistical significance. The findings suggest that parental involvement in active video games enhances the effectiveness of such interventions, leading to better parent-child relationships among overweight and obese adolescents. This underscores the potential for family-based interventions to combat adolescent obesity in this population.