Pokémon Go: Healthful or deadly?

[DFighter]

Written by Tim Newman Published: Wednesday 20 July 2016

 

ether you are a fan of Pokémon Go or not, no one can ignore its recent surge into global consciousness. In this article, we ask whether its popularity is likely to be positive or negative for the health of humanity.

[Pikachu Pokemon]

Will the quest for Pikachu improve the population's health?

Unless you have been deep-sea diving on Jupiter with your fingers in your ears, you will not have been able to avoid bumping into the phrase "Pokémon Go."

 

In just a matter of days, the app became the biggest mobile game that the United States has ever seen, finally eclipsing Candy Crush Saga.

As with any fad, popular news outlets are either praising Pokémon Go or lambasting it as the next plague.

In case you have only just returned from Jupiter, I will briefly explain this new technological phenomenon.

Pokémon Go is a free-to-play smartphone game, based on the Japanese designed Pokémon franchise. The game encourages you to trap, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon.

Its premise is not dissimilar to a number of other games, but it has one major difference - it is linked to the real world. Using the mobile device's GPS capability, players are required to physically walk around their local area, hunting out hidden characters within real-world maps.

Although the Pokémon Go concept itself is relatively standard, the game has the unusual ability to get gamers up and out of their chairs and moving around outdoors.

The effect of any app, game, or new technology on a population is likely to be minimal. That is, unless its uptake is huge; with Pokémon Go, the uptake certainly is huge.

 

Following its release in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., the pressure on the game developers' servers was far greater than expected. They had to postpone upcoming releases in other regions until they could strengthen their technology sufficiently to cope with the demand.

Within 2 days of Pokémon Go's U.S. release, it was installed on an estimated 5 percent of all Android devices in the country. As of July 12, Pokémon Go boasted around 21 million active users.

With so many players, the game has the genuine ability to influence public health. The question is, will Pokémon Go yield positive health outcomes, or is it a potential death trap?

 

Pokémon Go: The good

Computer games are not generally considered to be good for one's health. Other than the Nintendo Wii, computer games are often attacked for rewarding a lack of exercise. Pokémon Go, however, is a different beast.

 

The scourge of the sofa

First and foremost, Pokémon Go is getting younger (and older) people out of the house and moving around. This offers a huge potential benefit for the health of the population.

Researchers have demonstrated time and time again that a sedentary lifestyle is detrimental for a number of health parameters.

A study published in 2012, for instance, concluded: "Sedentary time is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality."

 

Another, published in 2015, found that long periods of sitting, regardless of fitness level, had a negative impact on health. The researchers concluded: "Prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity."

In that respect, Pokémon Go could have a very positive impact. If millions of Americans are walking farther than they normally would, on a daily basis, that has the potential to produce a significant benefit to public health.

 

Depression and walking

Other than the cardiovascular benefits of a swift stroll, being coerced into the great outdoors has other potential perks.

A meta-analysis, published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity in 2012, concluded that, although evidence from randomized, controlled trials is limited, "walking has a statistically significant, large effect on the symptoms of depression in some populations."

Major depressive disorder affects an estimated 14.8 million American adults. Even if Pokémon Go only tempts a small number of these individuals outside, it could produce a significant upswing in their mental health.

 

Anecdotally, other Pokémon Go players have reported the benefits of interacting with people they would have never otherwise spoken to. Modern society has a tendency to minimize the amount of human contact we have. For some, an isolated life is no concern. Others, however, can feel lonely.

A British study, published in 2012, titled "Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women," concluded that "mortality was higher among more socially isolated and more lonely participants." After controlling for demographic factors and baseline health, social isolation remained a significant predictor of mortality.

 

Pokémon Go: The bad[Pokemon ball]

Despite the warnings, many Pokémon hunters refuse to look where they are going.

The media has been quick to report on the negative consequences of playing Pokémon Go.

 

Some of the stories are, no doubt, true. Others are probably exaggerated or beyond the scope of this article (armed robbery, kidnapping, and pedophilia traps, for instance).

One of the many tales of Pokémon woe involves 19-year-old Shayla Wiggins, who was lead to a river on her quest for Pokémon characters.

On her trek, she reported spotting two deer and, more worryingly, one dead human, face down in the river.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/311709.php

[Internet Explorer]

the game isn't the problem...it is the idiots who use it. The same goes for guns and many other things

[St0rmSlaSh]

That game got me walking 5 miles everyday xD

[Albatra0z]

It's a throwback to those who grew up in the Pokèmon era and now able to catch em, how cool isn't that? Good job Nintendo I'd say. But, some people taking it way to seriously. Like this guy Tom, he quit his full time day job to become a Pokemon trainer. If you dont believe me visit Pokemon trainer Tom on Facebook haha.

Indeed it's dangerous for those who become obsessed with it. Reckless, not watching were they're walking, keeping their eyes constantly on their phone. I actually stopped my car in the middle of the street today (not much traffic) just because my girl said "we have to stop here! extra much Pokemons!). So I did, safe and proper and carried on again when there was a car approaching from behind.

About training, It's healthy to get out by foot, bicycle so nothing wrong with people getting some exercise and some fun from it. Even meeting new people, social interactions as you said and so on.

I havent downloaded Pokemon Go even thou I grew up with it, Its just I don't wanna look like all these other nuts outside. 

Last I have a similar game that gets me goin, not chasing and catching Pokémons I catch and take over zones. App is called Turf Wars where you go to a zone marked on map (gps based) and stand in it to make it yours. You get points for every hour it's yours, highscore board and the more points you get the easier you take over zones and making them immune for others x couple of hours. 
Often the zone is at something special like a lake, pond, history mark or even a viewpoint which makes it extra enjoyable. 



 

[Jobba]

It's the idiots that play it not the game.

Similarly, it's the idiots that do the crime, not the gun.

[Fuakma]

I don't see all the hubbub about that game.

 

all i see is a bunch of idiots walking around staring at their phones not paying attention whats around them.

Near where i live two people fell into the river (they lived) and got swept away and lost their phones.

 

Some people say it was the government that created the game so they could sneak into their homes and hide cameras an stuff or keep track of where they go all the time  LOL stupid.

 

I never liked that show,card game crap and i don't like the app game.

 

 

But everyone has their fav game app.

[Mr.Hunter]

New york driver crashes  car  into tree while playing " POKEMON GO"

 

I request u all please stop playing "POKEMON GO"

 

[meow]

 

I request u all please stop playing "POKEMON GO"

 

Where's your request so people stop texting? stop talking on the phone? stop daydreaming? stop walking? stop living?

 

Cause a lot of people have died or caused an accident while doing these things too.

[Dest!Ny]

augmented reality has a fair chance of being part of our gaming experience in a couple years, it has a lot of future. people just have to learn to adapt and not be a retard in the traffic.

 

Ive walked/biked for around 100km while playing so far. and the closest Ive come to hurting someone or myself is walking into a bench 3AM in the morning when it was too dark outside

[ancientmule]

[Mr.Vegeta]

Yes,for fat people who want to lose weight is healthly,but in some case can be and deadly.

[shellshock]

i was never an active person. i was always inside and didnt want to do anything unless it was with friends. since pokemon go came out ive been getting alot more active and been going out wiht friends and having a great time. just have to be aware of your surroundings

[Mr.Karizmatic]

there is always good or bad and  if u think this game is causing problems its not the game its the dumb people... people are dumb well if u give a gun to a dumb person he will shoot anyone whereas if u give to a soldier he shall protect the nation with the same gun so, its all about the people not the thing or game which is causing problems...

[Aniky]

there is always good or bad and  if u think this game is causing problems its not the game its the dumb people... people are dumb well if u give a gun to a dumb person he will shoot anyone whereas if u give to a soldier he shall protect the nation with the same gun so, its all about the people not the thing or game which is causing problems...

 

If that dumb person wouldn't have a gun at first place he wouldn't be able to do that, if that dumb person wasnt playing silly games at first place, accident like those wouldn't happen. We can go on and on all day like that if u want.

[Mr.Karizmatic]

If that dumb person wouldn't have a gun at first place he wouldn't be able to do that, if that dumb person wasnt playing silly games at first place, accident like those wouldn't happen. We can go on and on all day like that if u want.

so u are saying we shoudlnt make a gun in first place.. lol u really need to think before u speak... just writing 3-4 lines of stuff wont make your post valid..  and if you are against this game so much then why the hell do u reply in this topic .. i see where ever there is pokemon topic you sure reply.. if u hate this game so much why do u care .... i know u shall say its forums i can reply anywhere blah blah... btw i dont want to argue with u cause its waste of time better use that time in playing POKEMON GO atleast that would make sense.........