Playing video games is generally seen as a hobby and a nice way for kids to kill time, although research seems to suggest that the average age of the US gamer is 35 years. Now some investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Emory University and Andrews University scrutinized data collected from over 500 adults, ranging in ages from 19 to 90. What they found was rather astounding! In an article appearing in the October 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, they say that there are measurable correlations between playing video games and health risks in adults.
People who participated in the study stated whether they were players or non-players, and weekly usage data was taken. Many factors were taken into consideration such as self-assessments of depression, health status, physical and mental health, body mass index, personality and poor quality of life.
Of the people involved in the study, 45.1 percent were reported to play video games. Male video game players reported a higher BMI than male non-players, and female players reported a higher level of depression as well as lower health status, compared to female non-players. Both female and male video game players reported a greater reliance on the internet for social support.
In the article, Dr. James B Weaver III, PhD, MPH, National Center for Health Marketing, CDC, Atlanta, says, “As hypothesized, health-risk factors – specifically, a higher BMI and a greater number of poor mental-health days – differentiated adult video-game players from nonplayers. Video-game players also reported lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns. Internet community support and time spent online distinguished adult video-game players from nonplayers, a finding consistent with prior research pointing to the willingness of adult video-game enthusiasts to sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games. The data illustrate the need for further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease.”
Speaking on the same issue, Brian A. Primack, MD, EdM, MS, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, stated, “There are noteworthy differences between the oldest forms of play (e.g., chase games) and today’s ‘playlike activities.’ These playlike activities may stimulate the right centers of the brain to be engaging … However, the differences between today’s ‘playlike activities’ and original forms of play may illuminate some of the observed health-related correlates discovered by Weaver, et al.”
Dr. Primack acknowledges that the greatest challenge ahead of us will be in maintaining a proper balance: “How do we simultaneously help the public steer away from imitation playlike activities, harness the potentially positive aspects of video games, and keep in perspective the overall place of video games in our society? There are massive, powerful industries promoting many playlike activities. And industry giants that can afford to will successfully tout the potential benefits of health-related products they develop. But who will be left to remind us that – for children and adults alike – Hide-And-Seek and Freeze Tag are still probably what we need most?”
The article deals with the effects of playing video games in adulthood, and is called ‘Health-Risk Correlates of Video-Game Playing Among Adults’. The article appears in the Volume 37, Issue 4 (October 2009) of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier.