Obesity is Increasing with Geeks

The question of obesity in America has been a popular topic lately, especially among a younger generation that finds themselves spending plenty of time sitting in front of computers.

While new studies have shown little evidence to link technology to obesity, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be working on ways to fight obesity with technology. We’ve already seen the game Dance, Dance Revolution turned into exercise equipment for gyms — and even an insurance company that will offer cheaper policies to kids who play the game.

However, on college campuses it looks like there’s a simple thing they can do which solves another problem as well. We were just reporting that the idea of the on-campus computer lab is becoming obsolete thanks to thinks like laptops and campus-wide WiFi — so a number of universities now have to figure out what to do with those spaces.

Minnesota State University has discovered that attaching a combined computer and television to exercise equipment makes its students more inclined to work out, thereby solving two problems with one bit of technology. Sure, exercise equipment with TVs are not new, nor are machines with a single computer app — but fully functional computers attached to the equipment apparently took a bit of hacking by the University’s tech staff.

However, it’s the perfect solution: turn the old computer labs into exercise rooms with such computerized equipment. That solves what to do with the labs while getting students to work out more often — a perfect, modest, proposal to solve both problems in one simple solution.