New research published in the journal Nutrition suggests that there is a “tipping point” at about 10 hours per week after which video gaming becomes unhealthy for the body and heart.
The study included a cross-sectional survey of over 300 university students in Western Australia. The survey assessed video gaming habits, physical activity, diet quality, sleep quality, eating behaviors, and stress. Based on their answers, respondents were divided into groups of low gaming frequency (0–5 hours per week), moderate gaming frequency (6–10 hours per week), and high gaming frequency (more than 10 hours per week). Many young adults play video games frequently, but the impact of video games on health is poorly understood. This study sought to determine how different frequencies of video gaming impact health in university students.
The results showed that respondents with high gaming frequency had poorer diet quality, higher body mass index, and lower sleep quality than those who had low gaming frequency. Higher gaming frequency was also correlated with getting less physical activity. Respondents in the moderate gaming group tended to have similar health outcomes to the low frequency group, but exceeding 10 hours per week of gaming seemed to be consistently correlated with worse health outcomes.
The authors noted that students who spent more than 10 hours per week playing video games had a clear divergence from the rest of the sample, while those who gamed for less than 10 hours per week tended to look similar in terms of diet, sleep, and body weight. While this study did not prove that gaming causes issues with sleep, diet, physical activity, and body weight, it did show a clear pattern of association between excessive gaming and poorer health outcomes. Sleep, diet, physical activity, and body weight are significant factors in long-term health risks such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Sources: Nutrition, Science Daily