Online Gamers Leaner Than Your Average Couch Potato

Often dismissed as unhealthy and overweight, a recent study found that video gamers are actually 10% leaner than the average American. Just why that is remains a little murky, but researchers did note that players of the popular online game EventQuest II watched 10 fewer hours of TV per week, reports LiveScience. That activity is often tied to weight gain—and video games may have been wrongly lumped into the couch-potato group.

Television showers viewers with messages about "buying, consuming and eating," said one researcher, while video gamers get messages about "taking action." To wit, 62% of adults don't exercise for more than 10 minutes at a time, while gamers reported exercising vigorously once or twice a week. But on the mental health front, the same study found gamers had a 20% higher rate of substance addiction and were 50% more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
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