Buying more than 11 games per year bad for health

[toonarmy]

Ran across this article this morning:

http://www.menshealth.com/health/most-active-cities

It's a Men's Health study on the most/least active cities. According to the article one of the criteria for being considered sedentary is buying more than 11 video games per year. If that's the case then I'm in deep s***, lol, despite the fact I average 1-2 hours of cardio-based exercise a day and lift weights twice a week. Do you think buying more than 11 video games a year is really a valid indicator of whether or not a person is sedentary?

[Rodster]

Do you think buying more than 11 video games a year is really a valid indicator of whether or not a person is sedentary?

Yes !

[Teal]

11 a year?! I know it's bad for the wallet...

[Brando70]

That seems like a pretty inaccurate metric. Number of hours played per week (like hours of TV watched) is what they should have considered.

Plus, with things like Kinect, games are not always without physical activity anymore. Heck, since I bumped up to expert on drums on Rock Band, I get the heart pumping a bit on some of the faster songs.

[toonarmy]

That seems like a pretty inaccurate metric. Number of hours played per week (like hours of TV watched) is what they should have considered.

Plus, with things like Kinect, games are not always without physical activity anymore. Heck, since I bumped up to expert on drums on Rock Band, I get the heart pumping a bit on some of the faster songs.

Ageed. With so many Zumba, dance, fitness, and motion-controlled games out there it does seem like number of games bought is a horrible indicator of much of anything. My main contention though is how does number of games bought correlate to sedentary lifestyle? For example, I know people who only buy a few games per year, but they play those games many hours each day (ie -- Modern Warfare, WoW, etc.) and a couple of those dudes are extremely obese and do not exercise much at all. On the other hand I know people who are like me and buy at least a couple dozen games each year, but balance that with a lot of physical activity and are in good shape. I guess the study and the video gaming aspect of it irked me because the people behind it clearly do not know much about habits of gamers, but were able to choose the magic number of 12+ games bought and incorporate that into their study, which has made it onto several news outlets I have heard today. Also, it seems like a fair number of guys on this forum buy quite a few games each year, but balance that with other things in their lives and stay in physical shape. I just don't like the stereotype that gamers are sedentary fatasses with nothing else in their lives.

[Naples39]

Obviously purely the number of games you buy is an imperfect measure, and some people that play a lot will be thin. Honestly all the gaming dorks I knew were skinny.

The more games you are buying though the more time you are sitting on your ass playing games in general, and 11 games a year may be somewhat of a tipping point between casual and dedicated "hardcore" gamers.

[pk500]

I can't believe we're having a serious discussion on a "study" that is about as scientific as licking your finger and sticking it in the air to determine wind direction.

Some guys may buy 15 games per year and only have 30 minutes per day to play based on family and work commitments. Some guys may play only WOW all day and night, engorging on Doritos and Monster.

Which dude is healthier?

Ooh, I feel a wind shift through my open office window. Time to wet my finger, launch it to the sky and write a white paper on atmospheric air patterns for NOAA.

[Rodster]

I'm the videogame version of Imelda Marcos. I definitely buy more than 11 games per year way down from 40-50 per year on average. I now only play around 1-2 hrs per week.

[skinsfan]

Lol,I've lived in Lexington my whole life.

[toonarmy]

Lol,I've lived in Lexington my whole life.

You obviously do more gaming than anyone on here then.

[XXXIV]

I can't believe we're having a serious discussion on a "study" that is about as scientific as licking your finger and sticking it in the air to determine wind direction.

Some guys may buy 15 games per year and only have 30 minutes per day to play based on family and work commitments.

Exactly right.

Plus how many of us buy games, play them for half and hour, put them back in the case and never come back to touch the suck again.

Some guys may play only WOW all day and night, engorging on Doritos and Monster.

f*** you.....I prefer beer.

[WillHunting]

People who buy motion control games don't buy 11 games a year, they might buy one or two and then shelf them in the closet!