Citation
Wattanapisit, A., Wattanapisit, S., & Wongsiri, S. (2020). Public Health Perspectives on eSports. Public Health Reports, 135(3), 295-298.
Abstract
None
The Data
This is a review article
Quotes
“The public health sector should focus on injury prevention, safety issues, and occupational health of eSports athletes and spectators”
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“The health concerns of eSports athletes may not differ from the health concerns of office workers who use computers”
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“the average eSport player practices between 5.5 and up to 10 hours a day prior to competitions.”
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“spending more than 6-8 hours per day sitting or 3-4 hours per day watching television significantly increases the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality.”
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“The public health sector should follow the development of eSports and explore the behavior and health issues of athletes and spectators as eSports develop.”
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Our Take on it
“Are esports a public health concern? Yes, certainly. This research comes out of Thailand and outlines four areas of concern for public health authorities: sedentary behaviours, mental illness, drug use and doping, and gambling, as public health priorities arising from esports. It also calls for more evidence of risks, but it conflates the culture of video gaming at the amateur level with the pro scene, focusing more on the former. This is a shame as a lot of positive health messages can be found by looking to pro esports players and public health authorities may best be focusing on such communities to raise the profile of these wider health care messages. Nevertheless, the four categories of public health concern are a good starting point for further research.” Professor Andy Miah
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