Studies See If Video Games Power Up Health

Why fight the proliferation of video games if you can use them to improve the nation's health?

Health researchers are looking at ways that people's obsession with video games might be put to good use. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said it will give a dozen research teams up to $200,000 each for studies lasting one to two years.

The projects will measure the effects of playing video games on the young and old. For example, researchers at Cornell University will study how a mobile phone game rewarding healthy eating and exercise will influence children's behavior.

Video games are often seen as the purview of the young, but several of the projects will investigate how adults can benefit.

For example, at Union College, researchers will monitor how participating on a virtual cycling team influences exercise behaviors and health outcomes for people age 50 and older.

This month, Nintendo released a game for it's Wii console called WiiFit that works with a balance board to .