Pokémon Go’s health benefits seem short lived
BMJ 2016; 355 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i6684 (Published 14 December 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;355:i6684
The smartphone game Pokémon Go improves physical activity, but the effect is only moderate and no longer observed after six weeks, research published in The BMJ shows.1
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game in which players walk around to find cartoon characters appearing on their smartphone screen. It was launched in July 2016 and has been downloaded over 500 million times worldwide.
The US study included 1182 adults aged 18 to 35 who used an iPhone 6 series smartphone that automatically records the number of steps taken. Of the participants, 560 installed Pokémon Go and played at a trainer level of 5 or more, which is achieved after around two hours of walking.
Pokémon Go players walked 4256 steps a day on average in the four weeks before installing the game, compared with 4126 steps among non-players. In the first week after installation the daily average steps increased to 5123, a rise of 955 (95% confidence interval 697 to 1213). This attenuated during the subsequent weeks, and by the sixth week the number of daily steps had reverted to the level before installation of the game. These results remained the same even after accounting for a number of factors such as age, sex, race, weight, and how suited to walking the area of residence was.
The change in number of steps in the first week would translate to 11 minutes of additional daily walking, which is around half of the World Health Organization’s recommendation of 150 or more minutes a week.
The authors said that, although the association between Pokémon Go and the change in number of steps was short lived in their study, some people might sustain increased physical activity from the game.
They added that the effect on physical activity may be different in children who were not included in the study and that other potential benefits may include increased social connectedness and improved mood.
