LONDON, England (CNN) -- Playing the Nintendo Wii Fit could improve balance and help avoid falls in seniors, researchers taking part in a new study suggest. 

Researchers in Aberdeen think playing Wii Fit may improve the elderly's balance and lower risks of falling. 

The University of Aberdeen, Scotland and the UK's National Health Service (NHS) have embarked on a four month study on people over 70 to observe any changes in balance after regular use of the Wii Fit. 

The video game has different activities including yoga poses, push ups, strength, balance and aerobic exercises. 

The Wii Fit includes a balance board that records movements and gives feedback on performance. 

Dr Marie Fraser, a specialist registrar at Woodend Hospital in Scotland, UK, is carrying out the research. 

She told CNN: "Falls are the most common cause of accidental injury in older people and the most common cause of accidental deaths in 75-year-olds and over." 

It is hoped that using the Wii Fit's balance board can improve elderly people's balance and confidence. 

Dr Alison Stewart, who devised the study said she came up with the idea while working in the Osteoporosis department at the University of Aberdeen, after seeing a large number of fractures in old people who had fallen. 

Stewart, a commercial research manager with the NHS, said she then decided to research how to improve older people's balance. 

She told CNN: "There exists a medical fitness device that improves balance, but it is expensive and I could not get the funding. 
who was the researcher?
Dr Marie Fraser