23% of Kids Think Playing Video Games Is Exercise, New Study Finds

Playing games is fun, relaxing, and it can even be educational--but it's usually not exercise. In a new study, almost a quarter of children polled believe otherwise.

The recently published Youth Sports Trust report found that a surprisingly large number of kids think that playing a video game with a friend counts as "being active." The study polled 1,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16. Kids between 7 and 8 years old were most likely to believe this at 31%, while those between 15 and 16 were least likely at only 15%.

The British organization also found that a third of all respondents interact with friends more on social media than in the real world.

On the bright side, the study found that 75% of children still enjoy physical education classes.

Ultimately, the study concluded that the integration of technology with children's lives cannot be stopped, and it's important to find a way to combine tech and games with exercise.

Hopefully, many kids play Wii Sports or Just Dance, games that actually do get players active. Did you ever consider gaming to be a physical activity when you were a kid? Let us know in the comments.