Pok émon no-go: game's exercise effects short-lived in most players

Conclusion The results of the study are disappointing, but perhaps not surprising. The popularity of video games comes and goes, and as the novelty wears off, people are likely to play and engage less. However, the game was not designed as a means of increasing physical activity. The fact that it did so, at least in the short term, shows that melding virtual reality and the real world may have the potential to change people's health behaviour. The study takes advantage of technology not specifically aimed at improving health, but with the potential to do so. Aside from the Pokémon game, the researchers targeted participants with iPhones capable of recording people's steps by default, rather than relying on people's estimates of their walking time, or having to issue them with accelerometers. It also used a recruitment website for online workers to recruit study participants, enabling it to reach a large number of people quickly. While these methods may make it quick and easy to conduct research, they do limit the type of people recruited to the study. People seeking online work, and who own iPhones, may have different levels of physical activity than the general population, for example. The results may be more relevant to the US than the UK. Also, by measuring only the steps people take while carrying their phones, the researchers may miss other physical activity (such as swimming or playing sport) where the phones are left behind. This would have the effect of artificially...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news