The exact number of safe hours spent at the computer has been named

The authors of the project divided 317 participants in the experiment, whose average age was 20 years, into three conditional categories. The first group includes those who play little (up to 5 hours a week), the second — moderate users (from 5 to 10 hours), and the third — avid players who spend more than 10 hours in front of the screen in seven days.

A comparison of medical records revealed an amazing pattern. People from the first and second groups practically did not differ from each other in terms of health. That is, whether you play for an hour or eight hours a week, your body reacts about the same calmly. But as soon as the timer passes the 10 mark, the picture changes dramatically, and biological indicators begin to creep down.

The most noticeable blow falls on the figure. Statistics are relentless: for those who play a lot, the body mass index (BMI) averages 26.3. For medicine, this is already an overweight zone. For comparison, for moderate and rare players, this indicator remains within the healthy norm — 22.2 and 22.8, respectively.

Professor Mario Ciervo, who oversaw this data collection, emphasizes that every extra hour of gaming reduces the quality of nutrition. Gamers are more likely to lean on fast food, sugary drinks and snacks, forgetting about a full meal. Virtual battles displace healthy habits: there is simply no time left for cooking or walking, and the stress of losing is often eaten up by something high-calorie.

The quality of the night’s rest suffered for all students, due to the academic load, but game lovers slept the worst. A direct connection has been revealed: the more time a person spends in virtuality, the more difficult it is for him to fall asleep and the less quality his rest will be. The blue light of the screens and nervous excitement before bedtime do not allow the brain to relax.

A team from Curtin University draws an important conclusion: the problem is not in the games themselves, but in their quantity. Moderate gaming is quite safe, but an excess of digital entertainment breaks the daily routine. Since student habits often stay with us for the rest of our lives, doctors advise pausing, not playing in the dead of night, and keeping an eye on what you’re chewing while you’re saving another virtual world.