A dozen US research teams were Thursday awarded grants totalling two million dollars (1.3 million euros) to probe how interactive games can make players physically active and spur them to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Grants of up to 200,000 dollars were awarded to 12 research teams from US universities by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a US philanthropic group which has set up a unit called Health Games Research to explore how interactive games can serve as a springboard to better health behavior.

"We have been actively working in this area since 2004," RWJF program officer Chinwe Onyekere told a telephone news conference.

"Over this time, we have heard repeatedly that there is a need for stronger evidence that games can improve health and healthcare and support the growing realization that games can make a real difference in public healthcare in the United States," she said.

"Our vision is that in the coming years we will have a thriving marketplace of well designed, compelling interactive games that draw on this evidence base to become highly engaging and effective tools for improving the health and healthcare of Americans," she said.

The research teams who were awarded the grants are working on projects targeting different age groups and behaviors.

Cornell University in New York will develop its "Mindless Eating Challenge", a mobile phone game for teens that rewards good health habits and food choices.