Whether you’re sitting on the couch mashing buttons furiously as you battle monsters or clenching your firsts as you race against your friends, some video games feel like they can really get your heart pumping.
In the U.S., more than half of the population plays video games every single day, according to the authors of a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2019. Other researchers found children and adolescents increased their game time during the COVID-19 pandemic. But with this surge in gaming among the general public and the holidays behind us, which is when most new video games are released and sold, how does playing video games really impact our hearts?
Scientists have only recently started to probe the complex relationship between video games and heart health — and the effects that different types of games can have. Their findings stress the importance of not letting gaming impact our sleep, having balanced activities and simply moving our bodies more.
