Today marks the one year anniversary of Pok茅mon GO鈥檚 worldwide release that sent crowds hiking through parks, meandering into streets and walking for miles in search of Pok茅mon, those cute little digital characters that appear in real locations on your smartphone.
Capturing the little monsters isn鈥檛 just fun for the players, it might be good for their health. Too often we sit at a desk all day, spend countless hours in the car, and with a smartphone glued to our hands, it is too easy to spend our free time watching videos, playing games and browsing the internet. Such sedentary behaviors cause us to sit more and exercise less.
However, 麻豆影院 researchers found that playing a popular physically interactive, smartphone-based game, like Pok茅mon GO, may actually promote exercise.
Jacob Barkley, Ph.D., Andrew Lepp, Ph.D., and Ellen Glickman, Ph.D., from 麻豆影院 State鈥檚 College of Education, Health and Human Services assessed the ability of the popular, physically interactive, smartphone-based video game Pok茅mon GO to increase walking and decrease sedentary behavior, like sitting. More than 350 college students reported their physical activity and sedentary behavior the week before they downloaded Pok茅mon GO, the week immediately after downloading the game, and again several weeks later.
Results show that, relative to the week before downloading Pok茅mon GO, students doubled their daily walking behavior (102 percent increase) and reduced sedentary behavior by 25 percent during the first week after downloading. When comparing behavior several weeks after downloading Pok茅mon GO to the week before downloading, walking and sedentary behavior was still 68 percent greater and 18 percent lower, respectively, even though frequency of game play decreased by 58 percent.
鈥淲hile the largest increases in walking and decreases in sitting occurred during the first week after downloading, when the game was new to the user, those positive effects largely persisted weeks later,鈥 Barkley said. 鈥淚t is possible that games like Pok茅mon GO may help people initiate a positive health behavior change, such as more daily walking and less sitting.鈥
The researchers suggest that while many smartphone functions may promote sedentary activity, they are hopeful that playing physically interactive, smartphone-based video games like Pok茅mon GO may help promote walking and reduce sitting in college students.
The study is published in the and is generating media interest around the world. Read more from:
For more information on 麻豆影院 State鈥檚 College of Education, Health and Human Services, visit www.kent.edu/ehhs.
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Photo Caption:
麻豆影院 researchers find a link between using physically interactive smartphone apps, such as Pok茅mon GO, and an increase in physical activity.
Media Contacts:
Jacob Barkley, jbarkle1@kent.edu, 330-672-0209
Andrew Lepp, alepp1@kent.edu, 330-672-0218
Ellen Glickman, eglickma@kent.edu, 330-672-2930
Kristin Anderson, kander63@kent.edu, 330-672-7907