Playing actively would be as good for your health as a running session

Video games are often singled out and accused, sometimes rightly, of making their users sedentary. A study conducted by British and Brazilian researchers has found the beneficial effects of gaming in terms of health. It is important to note that these are games focused on physical practice.

In detail, the scientists observed patients with type 1 diabetes. The group was split into two. The first part were running on a treadmill. The other participants were practicing the Kinect Adventures game on Xbox.

Video games, a good way to lose weight?

The researchers then measured different physiological data such as heart rate, blood pressure 30 minutes and 24 hours after these exercises. They found that active video games produced physiological effects very similar to the treadmill. Blood sugar levels have also dropped quite close together.

The real difference lies in how the patients feel. So, those who have played a video game have found the exercise much more enjoyable. They particularly appreciate the fact of scoring points or obtaining achievements and various rewards.

The authors believe this is good news because while physical activity is recommended as a non-drug way of managing blood sugar, patients sometimes have difficulty motivating themselves. While this health problem lasts a lifetime, it can be useful to vary the activities so as not to get bored, and in this context gaming is interesting.

As a reminder, other evaluations have shown the benefits of video games for physical health. We spoke to you in particular last August about this study of the Stakester eSport platform. According to the latter, a male player would burn 420 calories playing for two hours, while a female player would lose 472 calories. And that would be the equivalent of 1,000 sit-ups.