According to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average age of adult video gamers is now 35, and video gamers are also fatter, less healthy and more depressed than non-gamers.
The study used data from 500 adults in Washington aged 19-90. About 45 percent of the adults studied reported playing games. Washington was chosen because Seattle has the highest Internet usage level in the US.
The CDC team, says the BBC, studied the perception of “mood, personality, health status, physical and mental health, body mass index (BMI) and quality of life” of the gamers.
The study found that female video gamers were less healthy and were more depressed that non-gamers while male gamers had higher BMIs.
CDC’s James B. Weaver added:
“Health risk factors, specifically a higher BMI and a larger number of poor mental-health days, differentiated adult video game players from non-gamers. Video game players also reported lower extraversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status.”
Result for: body mass index
The blockbuster hit game Wii Fit was finally made available in the US this morning, after selling over 2 million units in Japan over only a matter of weeks. The game is available in New York right now only and then the rest of the US beginning May 21st.
Nintendo’s latest hit allows users to check their body mass index and do various routines such as strength training, aerobics, yoga, skiing, and snowboarding, all in the comfort of their homes.
“Wii Fit will get you moving whether you’ve been playing video games for years or this is your first time,” Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive VP of sales and marketing, said in an announcement. “Wii Fit is easy for anyone to try and is yet another example of how Nintendo continues to expand the world of video games to new audiences.”
The $90 USD game comes with “a hefty balance board that wirelessly communicates with the required Nintendo Wii Console. Measuring 20.5 inches by 13 inches by 3 inches, the board which is basically a complex floor-based game controller, senses the user’s weight as he steps on it and uses the information to control and synchronize the onscreen games and exercises designed to improve your balance, posture and fitness.”
Personal trainers around the world have said the game is a good way to get started on your personal fitness, especially if you are embarrassed to join a traditional gym.
