A new study has revealed the line where gaming goes from a fun hobby to negatively impacting our overall health.
Researchers at Curtin University in Western Australia looked at the relationship between video gaming frequency and health among university students, SciTechDaily reports. The study surveyed 317 students from five Australian universities with a median age of 20. Students were divided into three groups: low gamers (0-5 hours per week), moderate (5-10 hours per week), and high (10+ hours per week).
“What stood out was students gaming up to 10 hours a week all looked very similar in terms of diet, sleep and body weight,” Mario Siervo, corresponding author and professor at the Curtin School of Population Health, said in a press release.
“The real differences emerged in those gaming more than 10 hours a week, who showed clear divergence from the rest of the sample.”
Published in Nutrition, the study found that high-frequency gamers had significantly poorer diet quality, higher body mass index, and impaired sleep quality compared to those who spend five hours or less gaming each week.
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High-frequency gamers registered a median body mass index (BMI) of 26.3, coming in at the low end of the overweight category. Both low and moderate gamers fell in the healthy range, with BMIs of 22.2 and 22.8, 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,” Siervo explained.
While all three groups reported generally poor sleep quality, worsening scores among moderate and high gamers suggest that increased gaming hours contribute to sleep disruption. The study may not prove that gaming caused these poor health outcomes, but it does show “a clear pattern that excessive gaming may be linked to an increase in health risk factors.”
“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,” he said, emphasizing that the habits we develop during university often carry over into adulthood.
Students taking a healthier approach to gaming now, Siervo noted, “may help improve their overall wellbeing.”
