Study: Gamers Not Fat, Just Addicted

A study out of the University of Southern California suggests that the stereotypical image of the gamer as a fat, lazy, slobbish creature may not be as accurate as once assumed. They polled 7,000 EverQuest II players and found that the average body mass index (BMI) of respondents was 25.2, versus 28 for the overall American populace. Both still fall into the overweight category. Additionally, gamers also exercise more than the average person, getting in some vigorous exercise (no, button mashing was not included) once or twice a week, sadly higher than most.

Interestingly, gamers were also found to have a higher occurrence of substance abuse than non-gamers. With the current questions surrounding the existence of an “addictive personality”, or a predisposition to addiction, and its role in video game addiction, it’s intriguing to note that video games aren’t the only things that gamers can struggle with. Unfortunately, gamers also seem to have a higher incidence of depression. Scott Caplan from the University of Delaware suggested that some gamers “may be drawn to use the game to help deal with emotional distress”.

Via | videogaming247