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Can video games help you level up your health?


Even a professional gamer like Noah “Nifty” Francis, 22, admits players aren’t known for having great habits. Francis, who plays Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for the Dallas-based Team Envy, knows people who play 14 hours at a time, so focused on the game that they forget to eat. “A lot are, like, so skinny—even frail-looking—because maybe they eat one meal a day.”


Unless you’re actually playing Pitfall!, the biggest threat a video game poses to your health is probably not quicksand or mutant scorpions. It’s sedentary behavior—low-energy activity, such as watching TV or being a passenger in a car.

Simply put, sedentary behavior is bad for you, said Tracie Barnett, an associate professor in the department of family medicine at McGill University in Montreal. It “is really quite well-established that it increases risk of death from all causes,” said Barnett, who was chair of the committee that wrote an American Heart Association scientific statement on sedentary behavior in youth in 2018.

That report said screen time seems to contribute to children becoming overweight. But, Barnett said, many studies on screen time lump games, computer time and television-watching into one category. “And I’d say, not all screen time is equal.”



Overall, games that inspire motion—”exergaming”—beat doing nothing, said Barnett. Federal guidelines recommend adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity. And there’s “a huge amount of benefit” in getting someone to go from no activity to even as little as 15 minutes a day, Barnett said.



But Lee, who helped develop an app that encourages people with autism to be more active, said there are limits to how much good games can do. “Active video games and gamified fitness apps are a creative way to reduce prolonged sedentary time especially in physically inactive individuals, but they are limited to supplementary roles,” he said. “We have to pursue real exercise and regular physical activity to meet the recommended physical activity guidelines and gain health benefits.”

Gaming before bed also can disrupt sleep patterns, Lee said. And some people have trouble stopping. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes “internet gaming disorder” as a potential diagnosis for children and adolescents when gaming leads to “impairment or distress.”


For adults, Barnett said it’s a good idea to take a break from gaming for five to 10 minutes every half hour, or 15 to 20 minutes every hour. And keep a healthy balance with the rest of your life. “Spend some time outdoors, make sure you have face-to-face interactions as well.”


Francis said he’s felt the difference his lifestyle changes have made. He feels more creative, less groggy. That’s vital to someone who’s playing in tournaments where tens of thousands of dollars are on the line. “If it makes you 5% better, even 1% better, you take that.”

Roberto CarasasFigueroa plays for lower stakes. The 30-year-old, who lives in Carrollton, Texas, has spent a lot of nights in front of the screen. When he was younger, he sometimes played until 5 or 6 a.m. – often fueling himself with little more than a frozen burrito.

These days, while he’s between jobs because of the coronavirus, he plays about eight hours a day.



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