What number of hours of video video games per week could be too many?

News launch

From:
Curtin University

Playing video video games for greater than 10 hours per week may have a major affect on younger individuals’s eating regimen, sleep and physique weight, based on a brand new Curtin University-led examine revealed in Nutrition.

Researchers surveyed 317 college students from 5 Australian universities with a median age of 20 years previous.

They break up individuals into three teams relying on the self-reported period of time spent taking part in video video games, from ‘low gamers’ (0-5 hours per week) to ‘moderate gamers’ (5-10 hours) and ‘high gamers’ (10+ hours per week).

The workforce discovered whereas low and average players reported related well being outcomes, outcomes worsened dramatically as soon as a teenager’s gaming exceeded 10 hours per week.

Professor Mario Siervo, from the Curtin School of Population Health, mentioned the findings steered extreme gaming was the important thing challenge, somewhat than gaming itself.

“What stood out was students gaming up to 10 hours a week all looked very similar in terms of diet, sleep and body weight,” Professor Siervo mentioned.

“The real differences emerged in those gaming more than 10 hours a week, who showed clear divergence from the rest of the sample.”

The examine discovered a decline in eating regimen high quality as soon as gaming exceeded 10 hours per week, with a higher prevalence of weight problems within the excessive players group, in comparison with the low and average players.

High players had a median physique mass index (BMI) of 26.3kg/m², in comparison with the wholesome vary of twenty-two.2kg/m² and 22.8kg/m² for low and average players respectively.

“Each additional hour of gaming per week was linked to a decline in diet quality, even after accounting for stress, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” Professor Siervo mentioned.

All teams reported usually poor sleep high quality, however average and excessive players scored worse than low players, with gaming hours displaying a major hyperlink to sleep disruption.

“This study doesn’t prove gaming causes these issues, but it shows a clear pattern that excessive gaming may be linked to an increase in health risk factors,” Professor Siervo mentioned.

“Our data suggests low and moderate gaming is generally fine, but excessive gaming may crowd out healthy habits such as eating a balanced diet, sleeping properly and staying active.

“Because university habits often follow people into adulthood, healthier routines such as taking breaks from gaming, avoiding playing games late at night and choosing healthier snacks may help improve their overall wellbeing.”

Video Gaming Linked to Unhealthy Diet, Poor Sleep Quality and Lower Physical Activity Levels in Australian University Students was revealed in Nutrition.