Playing video games is generally harmless, but a new study has identified a specific time limit where the hobby starts to wreck your sleep and waistline.
Researchers from Curtin University have found that playing video games for more than 10 hours per week can significantly affect a young person’s diet, sleep, and body weight.
The study, published in the journal Nutrition, suggests that while casual gaming has little effect on health, exceeding 10 hours per day is associated with a dramatic decline in well-being.
“This study doesn’t prove gaming causes these issues, but it shows a clear pattern that excessive gaming may be linked to an increase in health risk factors,” said Professor Mario Siervo from the Curtin School of Population Health.
The magic number
The research team surveyed 317 students from five Australian universities (median age 20) and split them into three groups: ‘low gamers’ (0–5 hours per week), ‘moderate gamers’ (5–10 hours), and ‘high gamers’ (10+ hours).
The results showed that low and moderate gamers had very similar health outcomes. However, once a student’s weekly playtime hit double digits, the differences became stark.
“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”.
The study found that ‘high gamers’ were significantly more likely to be overweight.
While low- and moderate-level gamers maintained a healthy median Body Mass Index (BMI) of roughly 22, high-level gamers had a median BMI of 26.3, placing them in the overweight category.
Furthermore, diet quality plummeted as gaming time increased.
“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,” Siervo noted.
Sleep suffers
While university students generally reported poor sleep quality across the board, the study found that gaming hours were significantly associated with sleep disruption.
Both moderate and high gamers scored worse on sleep quality than those who played 0–5 hours a week.
Professor Siervo emphasised that the problem isn’t gaming itself, but rather “excessive gaming” that crowds out other necessary biological functions.
“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,” he said.
The researchers suggest that simple changes, such as avoiding late-night gaming and choosing healthier snacks, could help mitigate the risks.
