Yet another academic group has published research suggesting that Pokemon Go can be a useful tool for promoting exercise.
Duke University researchers funded by the American Heart Association studied 167 young adults and found that “Pokemon Go participation was associated with a significant increase in [physical activity].”
“We conducted a retrospective observational study among Pokémon GO players in September 2016 and analyzed their level of PA in terms of step count as reported on the iPhone Health app 3 weeks before and 3 weeks after initiation of Pokémon GO play. Specifically, we sought to compare changes in PA level before and after playing Pokémon GO and whether such changes differ by age, sex, baseline PA level, body mass index, and level of engagement in the game. The latter included a subjective measure of self‐reported playing time as well as an objective measure of game progression indicating players’ level of engagement.”
“By playing Pokémon GO, an individual could walk nearly 2000 additional steps per day and is more likely to achieve a goal of 10 000+ steps per day, especially among those who spend more time playing Pokémon GO and those who are overweight/obese or have a lower baseline PA level,” the authors conclude. “Games such as Pokémon GO may provide an alternative way to adopt an active lifestyle for persons who play them regularly.”
We’ve previously covered the Stanford/Microsoft team that used Microsoft Band data to conclude that Pokemon Go “added a total of 144 billion steps to US physical activity,” as well as the University of Wisconsin–Madison team that argued playing Pokemon Go was associated with higher happiness as measured by social and physical activity responses. MOP’s own PoGo expert Andrew Ross dived into the subject in a feature earlier this year too.
