CEI researcher Marcelo Moriconi is a co-author of the scientific article ‘Health and health-related behaviours in esports players: an international survey of playtime and nationality differences’, recently published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.
The study analyses the health indicators and health-related behaviours of e-sports players, seeking to understand how these vary according to the amount of time spent gaming each week and the participants’ nationality. The research was based on an online survey of 413 e-sports players of 48 nationalities, assessing indicators such as body mass index (BMI), physical activity, tobacco and alcohol consumption, sleep habits, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life and social support.
The results show that participants have a more balanced health profile than is often assumed. On average, their BMI fell within the range considered healthy, tobacco and alcohol consumption was relatively low, depressive symptoms were mostly minimal or mild, and the average duration of sleep was around 8.2 hours per night. However, the study found that 38.3 per cent of participants did not meet the recommended levels of physical activity.
The study also shows that the number of hours spent on e-sports per week has a limited influence on most health indicators. The only significant difference observed was a higher prevalence of tobacco use amongst players who spend more than 10 hours a week on e-sports. In contrast, differences associated with nationality were found in aspects such as BMI, tobacco and alcohol use, physical activity and certain dimensions of health-related quality of life.
The authors conclude that the results challenge the notion that esports players generally have poor health. Instead, they suggest that the differences observed are better explained by the characteristics of the different groups of players and by sociocultural contexts than by the amount of time spent gaming. The study also highlights the importance of conducting longitudinal research and developing interventions that promote healthy participation in esports.
The article was published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, in the Sport Psychology section, and is available as open access via the DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2026.1850349. You can read the article here.