不要以為只有新新人類對電腦游戲上癮，根據(jù)一項調(diào)查，在美國電腦游戲玩家的平均年齡是35歲，但其中不少人存在身體和情緒上的問題。典型的電腦游戲玩家通常是體重超標，有些自閉，甚至有抑郁傾向。 無論男女，這些人比不玩游戲的人更加依賴網(wǎng)絡(luò)，這佐證了之前的研究，即電腦游戲玩家更愿意多花時間玩游戲，而不是走到外面，和真實的世界打交道。

Guests play the new video game "Madden NFL '09" at the Madden NFL 09 VIP Premiere party hosted by EA Sports and XBox in Los Angeles, California August 7, 2008.

Teens aren't the only ones glued to the video game console. According to a new survey, the average video gamer in the US today is 35 years old -- and not all that healthy physically or emotionally.

According to the survey released this week, the typical adult video game player is overweight, introverted and may be a little bit depressed.

The Internet-based survey involved adults aged 19 to 90 years old from the Seattle-Tacoma area, who were asked various questions about their health, as well as their media habits.

Of the 552 respondents (ages 19 to 90 years), 249 - a little more than 45 percent - identified themselves as video-game players -- the majority of them men (56 percent).

In a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Dr. James B. Weaver III, of the US. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues say they found "measurable" associations between playing video games and health risks.

"As hypothesized," the researchers report, a higher body weight and a greater number of "poor mental health days" differentiated adult video gamers from non-gamers.

Men who said they played video games weighed more and used the Internet more than men who did not play video games, the survey showed.

Women who reported playing video games reported greater levels of depression and poorer overall health than non-gamers.

Adult video gamers also seemed less outgoing, or extroverted, and less social and assertive than non-gamers, consistent with prior research in adolescent video game enthusiasts that tied video game playing to sedentary habits, weight issues and mental health concerns.

Adult video gamers of both sexes relied more on the Internet for social support than non-gamers, which supports prior research suggesting that adult video game players may "sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games."

Weaver and colleagues suggest that video gaming for adults may be a form of "digital self-medication." Women, in particular, may immerse themselves in brain-engaging digital environments as a means of self-distraction; "in short, they literally 'take their minds off' their worries while playing a video game," the investigators note.

What drives men to the video game console is likely to be different.

In a commentary published with the survey results, Dr. Brian A. Primack of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine applauds Weaver and his team for "reminding us that video games are currently popular not only among young people but also among adults."

The greatest challenge, Primack contends, will be maintaining balance.

He asks: "How do we simultaneously help the public steer away from imitation playlike activities, harness the potentially positive aspects of video games and keep in perspective the overall place of video games in our society?"

Powerful gaming industry giants, warns Primack, "will successfully tout the potential health-related benefits of products they develop. But who will be left to remind us that -- for children and adults alike -- Hide-And-Seek and Freeze Tag are still probably what we need most?"

相關(guān)閱讀：

普京硬漢形象遭網(wǎng)絡(luò)歌曲調(diào)侃

韓國富婆網(wǎng)絡(luò)征婚 400人應(yīng)征8人進“決賽”

調(diào)查：美國高管冷落社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)

美國：網(wǎng)絡(luò)對政治影響越來越大

(Agencies)

Vocabulary:

hypothesize: 假設(shè)，假定

Hide-And-Seek: 捉迷藏

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）