Obesity and Video Games

We gamers get a pretty bad rap some of the time. We get called lazy, some of us may put on a few pounds from inactivity, or we get called unsocial. Well one issue that we need to look at for sure ecompasses the first two. Obesity in general is a problem, not just in gamers, but in all of the world. We as gamers have a tendency to step into this problem of our own accord far too regularly. In a health report taken in 2007 one out of every seven children are considered obese.2 This is a problem we need to take very seriously.

Why do I need to take it seriously?

Well, obesity is known to cause a few serious issues to start off with. Let’s start with diabetes and cancer. I bet I have your attention now.  Another two major diseases it has a part in are heart disease and high blood pressure. Yes, obesity is known to factor into these diseases and more. But the beautiful thing about it is, we can help ourselves and prevent this.

Am I obese?

The basic definition of an obese person is one that has too much body fat. They use a technical term called BMI (body mass index) that uses height and weight to place you on a chart. We won’t delve any deeper into that here. If you are interested you can look at the CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html 1 and calculate your own BMI and find yourself on the chart and answer this question for yourself. Be aware this number does not define if  you are obese or not obese, it is just an indicator. There are other factors such as your body comp to take into account but your BMI is a good start.

What can we do to prevent obesity?

Well I’m glad you asked. There are two simple things we can do to help prevent ourselves from becoming a statistic.

• Exercise - Movement is key. We as gamers, spend a lot of time sitting in front of the TV or computer. Get up and move around. We talked about this multiple times in a few blogs, but this time I’m going to ask a little more of you. Go find an exercise you enjoy and do it multiple times a week. This can be walking, lifting weights, or playing a sport, just do something that gets your blood pumping.

• Diet - We hit on some nutrition points in our blogs at http://tinyurl.com/h88n533 and http://tinyurl.com/gmpsjot. But we will hit some basics here. Cut out the sugar, cut out the fat, and get some healthy meal options inside of you. Consume those fruits and vegetables, eat lean meat, get rid of the cokes and sweets! Eating a well rounded healthy diet reduces your risks immensely.

By hitting these two key points in your day to day life you increase your chance for a healthy long life, not just free from obesity but from other numerous health related issues. As always gamers, game safe!

References

1 Defining Adult Overweight and Obesity. (2012, April 27). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html

2 TV/video games and child obesity. (n.d.). Retrieved June 06, 2016, from http://www.nationalobesityforum.org.uk/component/content/article/1-nof-in-the-media/338-tvvideo-games-and-child-obesity.html