Sedentary lifestyle, concomitant with video game playing, is reflected in the gamers' body weights: A study from Hungary

In Hungary, 3.5 million adults played video games regularly in 2022.Video gaming is most common in the 18-25 years age group, and among schoolchildren, almost half of students are players.Excessive gaming is a recognized disease (DSM-5: internet gaming disorder; ICD 11: gaming disorder).The aim of our study was to examine the health status of video gamers in a complex way, including their sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, mental and physical health.Further goal was to develop an effective questionnaire, which can identify the lifestyle-related risk factors.The sample was divided into gamers (playing >1h/day) and casuals (<1h/day).Most of gamers were men in their twenties.More than two-thirds started to play >10 years prior.The proportion of overweight and obese individuals was significantly higher among gamers compared to casuals (p=.001).Mean body mass index (BMI) of both gamers and casuals was 23.69±4.17kg/m 2 .Gamers ate less often (p=.001),omitted breakfast more frequently (p=.030), ate snack during gaming (p=.020), consumed soft drinks (p=.010) and energy drinks (p<.001).Almost half of respondents performed intense physical activity ≥3 times/week and more than two-thirds slept <8 hours/day.No connection was found between video games and having chronic illnesses or taking prescription drugs as part of treatment.Self-declared presence of video game addiction was 16.2% in the gamer's group.The next step should be a nationwide survey with our improved questionnaire, focusing more on the lifestyle characteristics and distinguishing between time spent sitting while video gaming or while working or studying.