Obama Lists Video Games as Health Concern in AMA Speech

Maybe if he had practiced with Wii Bowling, he could have prevented this embarassment

President Barack Obama addressed the American Medical Association in a speech today outlining his policies for heath care reform and the steps needed to make us a healthier country overall. Apparently video games are not a part of that plan.

“The second step that we can all agree on is to invest more in preventive care so that we can avoid illness and disease in the first place. That starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children. It means quitting smoking, going in for that mammogram or colon cancer screening. It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside.”

Did Obama just compare video games to smoking and colon cancer? If I’m skimming that quote correctly he totally did. I’ve heard Obama mention “putting down the video game controller” as an instruction to kids in dozens of speeches over the years, but now we’re living in a different era.

I know that Obama has a Wii in the White House (the first president with a console), but I think that Microsoft needs to give him a demo unit of Project Natal to try out so he can see that video games can be thoroughly exhausting if you really go all out.

But yes, as of right now video games aren’t exactly helping the childhood obesity epidemic, although I would blame parents for making Cheetos, mayo and baloney sandwiches for their kids over a few hours of Call of Duty here and there. As we push toward more interactive games, maybe the calories will start melting off, but until then, use some common sense and join a soccer team or something. You’re a kid, it’s not like you don’t have the free time to do both.

[via GamePolitics]