Video gamers 'older than thought' 游戏爱好者“年龄超出预想”

The average age of an adult video game player is 35 - higher than previously¹ thought, a US study suggests.

一项美国调查显示，成年游戏爱好者的平均年龄是35，比预想的要高。

Gamers may be getting older, but they are not getting slimmer

A team from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also found gamers were less healthy, fatter, and more depressed² than non-gamers.

Researchers from the government agency analysed data from 500 adults aged³ 19 to 90 in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington state.

More than 45% of those surveyed reported playing video games.

The team chose the Seattle-Tacoma area because its internet usage level is the highest within the US and it is one of the larger markets for media.

A UK survey from 2002, conducted by the Leisure Software Publishers Association, found the average gamer was aged between 25 and 34.

But it also suggested that the average age of the keenest players is gradually edging upwards⁴, a finding reinforced by the CDC finding.

The team from CDC examined people's perception of their mood, personality, health status, physical and mental health, body mass index（身体质量指数） (BMI) and quality of life.

Female video-game players reported greater depression and lower health status than female non-players, while male gamers reported a higher BMI and a greater reliance on the internet than non-gamers.

CDC's Dr James B Weaver⁵ said the results were not that surprising.

"Health risk factors, specifically a higher BMI and a larger number of poor mental-health days, differentiated⁶ adult video game players from non-gamers," he said.

"Video game players also reported lower extraversion（外向性，外倾性）, consistent with（符合，一致） research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary（久坐的，固定不动的） lifestyle and overweight status."