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UK government says gamers die younger

Change4Life campaign draws links between gaming and early death

If you are a gamer then you are likely, on average, to die younger than a non-gamer, if a new UK government campaign is to believed.

"The Government's Change4Life campaign upped the ante in drawing spurious links between games and premature death this week," reports games trade paper MCV.

The Change4Life ad campaign – which appears in a number of popular womens' weekly mags such as Star, Reveal and Heat - clearly implies that the image of a young gamer slumped in front of the TV is at increased risk of contracting heart disease and dying younger than non-gamers.
zoydwheeler - contributor
Published: 299 days 13 hours ago | News | Gaming | Industry News
 
 

Showing: 1 - 33 of 33 Comments
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Jamegohanssj5 - 299 days 14 hours ago
1 -
Thanks now I can stop trying to commit suicide.

TGSI
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solideagle1 - 299 days 14 hours ago
1.1 - hahaha
nice bubble+ for u. but i think its big BS.
thanks
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Ghoul - 299 days 13 hours ago
1.2 -
actually gamers die earlier because of the constant discrimination by the society, stress and social rejection. (im not talking about addics on wow or certain other games)
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Alcon - 299 days 13 hours ago
1.3 -
NOOOOOOoooooooo..... (echoe)

Ah well, if I must die young, I'll make the most of it then. I'll start smoking, drinking a lot of alcohol and eat burgers while playing video games. I'll try to enjoy my short gaming life as much as I can....
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hay - 299 days 11 hours ago
1.4 -
Also: gamers die more often than ordinary human.
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nycredude - 299 days 11 hours ago
1.5 -
Every man dies, but not every man really lives.

If true then it's all worth it!
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Nineball2112 - 299 days 11 hours ago
1.6 -
Only the good die young...

Take your pick of which song you like. :-)


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Nineball2112 - 299 days 11 hours ago
1.7 -
or this one...


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ThanatosDMC - 299 days 9 hours ago
1.8 -
Well, at least we'll die happy. ::high fives::
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DARK WITNESS - 299 days 13 hours ago
2 -
lol... is this for real.

i can see how it happens;

gamer gets pi$$ed off playing CoD on veteran, throws pad at TV only to have it recoil off the screen and back into his face. impact causing major brain damage.

oh dear, what next ?
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Lucreto - 299 days 13 hours ago
3 -
Change4Life campaign is stupid I saw another one yesterday.

It is a picture of a little girl with a cup cake and in big writing
"Is a premature death so tempting"

It was an advert for diabetes. It is just a scare tactics and I just recycled the advert. I bet these people who started the campaign are the same people who hit Mandleson with the green custard.
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Ghoul - 299 days 13 hours ago
3.1 -
Jup thats actually one of my biggest gripes with todays society, its alll based on fear.

Fear about your money,
fear about your children,
fear about your health,
fear about invaders.

smeels alot like mid 20s century tactics. Its by far more dangerous to your health and life to life those fears then taking it a bit easier.
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Lucreto - 299 days 12 hours ago
3.2 -
Scare tactics work unfortunatley but advert like this will have little impact like the picture of blacked lungs on ciggurette packets. It did little to stop people smoking.

I had some back experiences I lost a friend who loved sports and his heart could not take it and died on the pitch playing football for his team. Another instance is next door to where I am working died after lifting a heavy box up a ladder. He had one medals for cross country running.

So there are risks in everything you do and pointing out gamers is no really fair.
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claney - 299 days 10 hours ago
3.3 - umm...
Sounds to me like im not safe playing soccer outside or my ps3...

may as well find a nice dark corner and sit and rock back and forth there for a few years :)
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Hellsvacancy - 299 days 13 hours ago
4 - "UK government says gamers die younger"
Pot smokers die younger aswell so im completely screwed lol
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Perjoss - 299 days 12 hours ago
4.1 -
lets face it, they are not the best years of your life (the ones at the end) so does it really matter if a few of them are taken away. But I can see some truth in this article, I imagine most gamers spend a lot less time being active and doing exersize and other stuff that is generally good for your heart.
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Leathersoup - 299 days 10 hours ago
4.2 -
I'd rather die happy than be alive and miserable.

Seriously... don't these people have anything better to do with "their" lives than tell others how to live theirs? They probably spent more time conducting this study than I'll lose because of gaming. Now who's who's living smart?
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The-Director - 299 days 13 hours ago
5 -
This is true and it's very simple.

What the campaign imply is that people that spend most of their time doing indoor activities "gaming being number 1" will understandably die faster than those who has an active life style such as sport or other physical activities.

The point is, exercise.
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Jacobite - 299 days 8 hours ago
5.1 -
Then 6 months later they'll say game's are good for your health lol, Real causes for early death ie Smoking, poor or bad Diet, Stress, Alcohol and Drugs abuse ,Extreme Sports and joining the Army just but a few. Then again I nearly burst a blood vessel going over the dam same level over and over again, lol
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jellejelle - 299 days 13 hours ago
6 -
My goodness what a frickin nonsense, do TV watchers die younger as well, what about music listeners, maybe kindergarden teachers as well, because of dealing with venomous baby puke?

I would love for all these governments just to let us be and let us game. They are there to help the regulation, not to control my life, or at least try to control it.
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Evocation - 299 days 13 hours ago
7 -
Right, so the choice is between stop gaming and watching TV, or going out and getting stabbed if the new of knife crime was to be believed?
I still see gamers have a longer life expectancy.
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Soda Popinsky - 299 days 13 hours ago
8 -
So it has nothing to do with your lifestyle in general? I excercise 4-5 times a week, cardio and weightlifting, and eat very healthy food. I don't smoke and rarely drink alcohol. Coffee sometimes. I play games for about 1-2 hours every evening.

Who says gamers are less healthy than people who relax with books or movies? Oh, I forgot. Videogames are not accepted as highbrow culture and therefore becomes "unhealthy". If anything people who play games usually sit in a healthier and more ergonomic body posture than people who read books.
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Foxgod - 299 days 13 hours ago
8.1 -
Same here, gaming doesnt mean you sit on your ass and do nothing else.
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Eiffel - 299 days 10 hours ago
8.2 -
Hell, even when I play games I don't sit still I'll walk around the room from time to time.
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KyonoRocks - 299 days 13 hours ago
9 -
Pffffft as the 'Full story' says, it's assuming the most stereotypical view of gamers from the 1990s or something. I play games for like 5-6 hours a day on average (lol I'm such a nerd) and I also go to the gym 3-4 times a week too. Am I going to die early?

Gaming has such an annoying image problem, I hate the Wii but Nintendo are doing good for the industry by trying to make it look like people who play games actually do other things with the 20 hours they have free in the day
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MC_KOOL_K - 299 days 13 hours ago
10 - ive been close to death a few times
never during a gaming session, amazingly

bad motor bike accident, and i was in a plane that fell 5000 feet and recovered

i get there point, you need a good balance
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Meryl - 299 days 12 hours ago
11 -
the only way you could ever endenger your life and cut it shorter is if you sit around eating and playing games all day long and do nothing else, again most of us have lives oustide of gaming and only use it as a measure to unwind and relax, stupid article
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ColRomColumn - 299 days 12 hours ago
12 - This Goverment is done
oh boy, the article mentioned the recession proof gaming industry, contributing millions to the economy. But this tired IT-skills-free cabinet/government should be discussing tax breaks for UK game developers.

I get the point about the perils of a sedentary life style. But do we really need these people to insist. I would have preferred them to have kept a careful watch on the banking industry, and not squander our pensions and future.
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die_fiend - 299 days 12 hours ago
13 -
Lol that's odd. Surely since consoles have only been around for 20 years max that there can't be anything conclusive...wouldn't you have to be like 50 when you play on a NES then die at 60 for them to prove this? Aren't most gamers about 18-25? I'm pretty sure most people of that age (20 years ago or now) will still be alive...
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militant07 - 299 days 10 hours ago
14 -
i dont belive this sh!t
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Adropacrich2 - 299 days 9 hours ago
15 -
Perhaps if as a gamer you sit idly playing games all day then yes i could agree that might be the cause of something bad on your health

If you're sensible you'll put time into something constructive too rather than lazily sat in front of a screen all day

Obvious stuff really but there will be gamers out there that live such sad pointless lives doing nothing but sit and play all day

I love games but i'd hate to waste away my brain like that
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jerethdagryphon - 299 days 8 hours ago
16 - also
other who will die young ...

most pc programmers, who by deinition sit in front a of a screen

cg artist again

anyone whos job is sedintary and doesnt take a lot of extra exercise

tat said i need to get back to the gym again
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tudors - 299 days 2 hours ago
17 - @die-fiend
that is exactly what I have was thinking.

@KyonoRocks I also go to the gym.

I am British and quote me when I say this is BS.

Goverments cause an early death by there confusing policies and there hypocritical laws.

Thr british goverment just upgraded Marijuana to a class B and downgraded Ecstacy to a C, Ketamine I believe is also a C, Salvia is ficking legal.

Yes the great british goverment.
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