Image courtesy Epic Games, Inc.
Described by The New Yorker as having “elements of Beatlemania, the opioid crisis, and the ingestion of Tide Pods,” the massively popular shooter-survival game Fortnite has reached an estimated 125 million downloads across gaming platforms since its release in September 2017. And if you’re a parent with pre-teens or teenagers and you haven’t heard of Fortnite — just wait, you will.
But just how healthy are these gaming crazes, and could it have a negative effect on your child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social health? “Many of the concerns with video games center around it being a highly sedentary activity,” says Webb A. Smith, PhD, a clinical exercise physiologist with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and assistant professor with the department of pediatrics at the UT Health Science Center. “Children often report playing for four to five hours per day, which is the majority of recreational time after school.”
According to Smith, physical activity is important for normal growth and development, and it drives bone and muscle growth. Added to this, excessive screen time, including video games, is associated with snacking and overeating, increasing the risk of obesity and other chronic health conditions. Smith adds, “There are also some data that suggest high video game use can lead to poor academic performance, but this is really a consequence of choosing video games over homework.”
But wait! Before you throw out the gaming devices in your household and risk all-out mutiny, it’s important to consider there are some benefits to video games, as well. “There is a growing amount of science supporting beneficial effects of video game play,” says Smith. “Some benefits that have emerged are improved decision making, memory, attention, and problem solving. The type of game and storyline drive these benefits, with games requiring quick decisions and situational analysis showing the greatest effects. Kids are really working hard to complete these tasks, and they learn and get better at making decisions. There have even been a handful of studies showing that video games can be part of an effective treatment for dyslexia and some eye-movement and tracking disorders.”
Although there still aren’t enough data and studies linking active video games to positive health outcomes, Smith states early studies are promising, including some recent studies showing that active video games can even be a key part in obesity treatment. “Work that my team at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center has completed shows that active video games can be very good exercise, out-performing walking on a treadmill,” he says.
The team also found kids will work harder playing active video games and report higher enjoyment than traditional exercise like walking or riding a bike. According to Smith, this is encouraging as a treatment for low physical activity, which is leading the high rate of obesity found in American children.
Beyond this local work focused on the potential of using video games to benefit young people’s health, Memphis’ Urban Child Institute and the Memphis Grizzlies foundation are also participating in ongoing studies in a charter school in Memphis using active video games to increase physical activity during the school day.
Ultimately, the question boils down to best practices for parents to incorporate into their family’s routine to keep screen time to a minimum. “It is important to keep in mind that 60 minutes per day of physical activity and less than one hour of non-school-related screen time per day are the recommendation,” Smith says.
“Video games in moderation can absolutely be part of a healthy lifestyle,” he notes, but advises that setting household rules and limits on screen time in general, with video games included, will go a long way in keeping your gamer healthy and thriving.
A Middle Tennessee native, Tonya Thompson now lives in Southaven, MS with her three kids and their crazy pets.