It looks like people are just trying to discourage today’s youth from playing video games. In one of the strangest studies that recently took place, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition came up with a conclusion that video gamers tend to eat more than people who don’t play video games. As reported by the National Post, Canada, the doctors believe that video games aren’t only poor replacements for physical activities, but they compel players to eat more even when they’re not hungry.
In the strange study, 22 teenage boys were made to sit on a comfortable chair for an hour and on a separate occasion they were made to play a video game for an hour. It turns out that after playing the video game, the boys would consume an average of an extra 80 calories at a pasta lunch. Blood tests showed that the boys weren’t even hungrier after playing games for an hour, but they still felt like eating more anyway. Doctors believe that in this case, food is a prize and players eat more to reward themselves after a tough gaming session.
I’m not disagreeing with the results of the studies, but isn’t the study pool of 22 teenagers much too little to come up with such a strong conclusion? And secondly – why were the kids made to sit in a comfortable chair as the second variable of the experiment? What is that supposed to signify? The doctors mentioned that they have planned to put the Wii to the test – to see whether the calories burned playing Wii games are offset by the calories consumed after each gaming session.
What do you think about the results of the study? Do you agree that gaming makes you eat more?
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