- Don't believe the stereotypes over the health of avid e-sports gamers, you're in store for a surprise.
- New research from Australia has found that e-sports gamers are between 9% and 21% more likely to be healthier than the general population.
- Gamers are also prudent when it comes to smoking and drinking habits.
Way back in 2006, South Park went a long way towards entrenching the perception that the majority of accomplished gamers are obese.
In a critically acclaimed episode during its tenth season, the controversial animated series introduced "Jenkins", a so-called griefer or player in a video game that deliberately harasses other players.
The character indeed sported the look of being unreliable and lazy - a wild, receding hairline; glasses; pronounced stubble; a hefty waistline that can balance a keyboard on it and even wrist support for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Yet a recent study, conducted by the Queensland University of Technology, has strongly challenged such enduring stereotypes, especially given the continued rise of e-sports.
In their findings, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the researchers notably concluded that e-sports gamers were between 9% and 21% more likely to have a healthy weight than the general population.
Michael Trotter, one of the paper's co-authors, admits that they were surprised by the results the first study ever investigating Body Mass Index (BMI) statuses of a global e-sports players delivered.
"The findings challenge the stereotype of the morbidly obese gamer," he said of the study, which surveyed 1 400 participants from 65 countries.
"When you think of esports, there are often concerns raised regarding sedentary behaviour and poor health as a result, and the study revealed some interesting and mixed results."
In fact, the top ten percent of e-sports gamers consider substantial physical activity vital to their performance when the remote control is in their hands.
"Top-level players surveyed met physical activity guidelines, with the best players exercising on average four days a week," said Trotter, noting that the authors based those guidelines on the World Health Organisation's standard of 150 minutes' exercise per week.
There's a good reason for those individuals to stick to an exercise regiment, particularly with the high stakes involved nowadays at tournaments.
"As part of their training regime, elite e-sports athletes spend more than an hour per day engaging in physical exercise as a strategy to enhance gameplay and manage stress," said Trotter.
However, at lower levels, there's still some lingering concerns over the health of gamers, with 4% of them still likely to be morbidly obese compared to the general population, which is why the researchers stress that the example set by elite exponents should form the basis for healthy habits at grassroots level.
"Exercise and physical activity play a role in success in esports and should be a focus for players and organisations training esports players," said Trotter.
"This will mean that in the future, young gamers will have more reason and motivation to be physically active.
"Grassroots e-sports pathways, such as growing university and high school e-sports are likely to be the best place for young e-sports players to develop good health habits for gamers."
Furthermore, e-sports gamers have a high sense of responsibility when it comes to the world's two prominent vices - smoking and drinking.
Merely 3.7% of players smoke daily with their frequency 18.7% than the global average.
They are also 7.8% more likely to abstain from drinking, with only 0.5% of players stating that they drink daily.