Killjoy Study Finds Avid Gamers Have Poor Diets And Sleep Deprivation
A new study suggests that "high-frequency gamers" are more prone to poor eating habits and sleep deprivation compared to low-frequency gamers. Led by Curtin University and published in Nutrition, the cross-sectional study focused on 317 Western Australian university students and their gaming habits, diet quality, physical activity, sleep quality, eating behaviours, and perceived stress levels. They had a median of 20 years old, putting them decades behind a 2023 AARP study that found gamers 50 and above are a growing force.
The study split the participants into three groups: low gamers (0-5 hours per week), moderate gamers (5-10 hours per week), and high gamers (10+ hours per week). What the study found was that gaming for more than 10 hours per week is enough to have a significant negative impact on a person's overall health.
"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 said. "The real differences emerged in those gaming more than 10 hours a week, who showed clear divergence from the rest of the sample."
Among those who participated in the study, those classified as high gamers had a much higher BMI at 26.3 kg/m2, compared to 22.8 kg/m2 for those in the moderate group and 22.2 kg/m2 in the low group. High-frequency gamers also had significantly higher rates of overweight (38% versus 21.1%) and obesity (24% versus 4.9%) compared to low-frequency gamers.
"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 added.
None of the groups had a particularly strong sleep quality score, but those in the high-frequency group were linked to poor sleep quality than the other two. The study's authors say this is a concern because blue light exposure and cognitive arousal associated with gaming could interfere with circadian rhythms and sleep onset.
As with all studies, one thing to keep in mind is that correlation doesn't equal causation. Professor Siervo acknowledges this, but adds that even though the study doesn't outright prove that poor health is caused by gaming, "excessive gaming may be linked to an increase in healthy 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," Professor Siervo adds.
You can check out the full study for more details.
