THE number of gamers in the UK is rising at the fastest rate ever.
Whether it’s tablets, PCs or consoles, the options for gaming have never been so plentiful.
The UK gaming industry is worth nearly £4billion a year, with the average young person clocking up 10,000 hours of gaming time by the age of 21. That means 416 solid days of gaming, or a year and seven weeks.
But are the growing numbers of gamers hurting their long-term health and destroying grey matter?
Or is gaming something doctors should be prescribing to keep cognitive skills sharp and social skills intact? Should you be picking up the controls or leaving well alone?
After a teenage gamer died last week because he spent three weeks playing Warcraft game Defense of the Ancients, we look at how gaming can influence your health
Pros
SOCIAL LIFE
WHILE the stereotype of gamers is Billy No Mates, research suggests they are more sociable than non-gamers.A study in the US looked at thousands of gamers and found they could multitask several social interactions at once.Dr Nick Taylor, who was involved in the study, said: “Gamers were often exhibiting many social behaviours at once: watching games, talking, drinking and chatting online.”
DECISION MAKING
FAST-PACED games have been found to help gamers make quicker decisions in real life.A US study split participants between the ages of 18 and 25 into two groups. One group played 50 hours of The Sims 2, the other group played 50 hours of Call Of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament. The Call Of Duty group made decisions 25 per cent faster in a task away from the consoles and were accurate more often.
PROBLEM SOLVINGA LONG-TERM study in the Netherlands found the more teens and young people reported playing strategic and role-playing video games, the more they improved their problem solving abilities and academic grades.
SPATIAL AWARENESSTHE same study from the Netherlands found shoot-em-ups enhanced players’ abilities to think about concepts in 3D.
HELPS SURGEONS TRAINA BOSTON study of junior surgeons found those who had gamed as children and adolescents had better surgical skills and hand-eye co-ordination.
Cons.
RISK OF ALZHEIMER’S
RESEARCH at the University of Montreal has found playing video games could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in later life. It has been shown to affect the hippocampus part of the brain which controls memory, learning and emotion linked with Alzheimer’s and depression.
LESS AWARE OF PAIN
GAMING as a character or avatar has shown a reduced sensitivity to pain which could lead to people ignoring the body’s warning signs when they need medical help, according to a German and Australian study.
CONTRIBUTES TO VIOLENCE
STUDIES over a decade found that exposure to violent video games is a risk factor in aggression in game players. The American Psychological Association report stopped short of blaming video games.
IT ENCOURAGES OBESITY A SURVEY of 17-year-old boys found that gamers burned an average of 21 extra calories an hour but ate nearly 80 calories extra afterwards. The World Health Organisation named video games as the single biggest cause of childhood obesity.
TENDON ISSUES
NINTENDONITIS, PlayStation thumb and Wii fracture are all medical conditions which patients have presented to doctors in the UK after excessive gaming. A study found kids who game for more than two hours a day are at an increased risk of lower back pain.
Tips For Parents
NEARLY 90 per cent of children aged eight to 15 own their own games console. Here, kidsblogclub.com editor JOANNE MALLON reveals eight tips for parents ...
KEEP IT PUBLIC: You can see what they’re doing if they’re gaming in a public space.
USERNAME AND PASSWORD: Make sure you know them.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE GAMING’S SOCIAL CURRENCY: Games such as Minecraft are the equivalent to watching the latest TV show in the Eighties. They’re social glue.
PAY ATTENTION TO RATINGS: Don’t let your child play 18-rated games, such as Grand Theft Auto V.
GROUND RULES: Agree on rules such as not downloading anything without your permission and never giving personal information to someone you’ve only met online.
DON’T PULL THE PLUG: Give a ten-minute warning before it’s time to finish.
BALANCE: If they are getting fresh air, mixing with friends in real life, and getting their homework done, then some gaming is probably OK.
WIND DOWN TIME: No gaming half an hour before bedtime lets them relax.
Signs You are Playing Too Much
WHICHEVER side of the fence you sit on when it comes to gaming, there are issues with playing too much. Score one point for each “yes” to the statements below. If your score is three or above, you may have a problem.
— Gaming makes you happy. When you stop you get angry, upset, bored or like you’re just biding time.
— When you’re supposed to be concentrating at work or school, your mind wanders to what you’ll do next when you get online to game.
— You spend more time gaming than hanging out with friends.
— When you stop gaming, you feel guilty at how much time you’ve spent doing it, but still get back online.
— If you wake up in the night, you check your game status or log on to see if anyone’s contacted you.
— You lie about how often you game and spend on each session.
— You don’t feel wholly responsible for emotions you feel when you play, be they frustration, guilt or pleasure.
— You don’t remember the last time you spent 48 hours without gaming.
— You make excuses to people so you don’t have to go out, pretending you have something else to do.
— You don’t feel right when you’re not gaming. You’ve developed habits such as biting your nails to pass the time.
— Your gaming set-up has cost you a fortune or it’s all you want for your birthdays, from gaming chairs and speakers to the latest consoles or computer upgrades.
— You find yourself thinking about gaming while simultaneously doing other tasks at school or work.
From The Sun Newspapers.
