Maybe it's impossible to keep kids from playing video games. But that might not be as bad as you think. A new report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine says active video games — the kind that involve lots of physical movement — burn a surprising amount of calories. And even sedentary video games burn more calories than a kid just plunked on a couch.

According to researchers at the Institute of Human Performance at the University of Hong Kong, video and computer games have become the preferred leisure-time activity of youth: An estimated 83 percent of American children age 8 to 18 have video game players in their bedrooms.

The researchers measured heart rate and energy expenditure in 18 children between the ages of 6 and 12 during a 25-minute game session. The researchers found that compared with resting children, 39 percent more calories per minute were burned playing a passive video game, 98 percent more calories per minute were burned playing an active bowling video game and 451 percent more calories per minute were burned playing a video game that involved running or physical action.

"This observation is important because electronic entertainment is not going away," said Russell Pate in an editorial accompanying the published research. "So, if we want to promote physical activity in the context of contemporary society, we will have to fight fire with fire. Physically active video gaming may be part of the antidote to the poisonous growth of sedentary entertainment."

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

Americans choke to death on toothpicks more than any other object.

NUMBER CRUNCHER

A single serving of cheesy bread from Domino's Pizza (38 grams) contains 140 calories, 63 from fat. That's 11 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 5 milligrams of cholesterol (2 percent); 140 mg of sodium (6 percent); 14 grams of total carbohydrates (5 percent); 1 g of dietary fiber (4 percent); 1 g of sugar and 4 g of protein.

MEDTRONICA

Daily Strength

dailystrength.org

A collection of support groups representing more than 500 different diseases and medical conditions. Click on one, read other people's stories or join an ongoing conversation.

STORIES FOR THE WAITING ROOM

An old Cornish cure for thrush, a fungal infection of the mouth, involved fasting for three consecutive days, then having your mouth blown into by a child whose father had died before the child was born.

HYPOCHONDRIAC'S GUIDE

"Sleeping blood" sickness is endemic to the Cape Verde Islands, where the natives call it sangre dormido. Believed to be at least partly a psychological condition, symptoms reportedly included pain, numbness, paralysis, convulsions, infection, blindness and heart attacks. Sufferers sometimes believe their brains are shriveling within the skull.

The cause is unclear, but may be related to feelings of social alienation or disaffection.

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Aerophobia — fear of swallowing air

OBSERVATION

A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running.

— Comedian Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

EPITAPHS

I was somebody.

Who, is no business

of yours.

On a tombstone in Stowe, Vt.

To find out more about Scott Lafee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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