2019, Volume 1, Issue 2

E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents



Henrietta Varga Szépné1, László Csernoch2, Ildikó Balatoni1

1Clinical Center, Univeristy of Debrecen
2Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Univeristy of Debrecen


Author for correspondence: Ildikó Balatoni; Clinical Center, Univeristy of Debrecen; email: balatoni@med.unideb.hu

DOI: 10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

Full text

Abstract

Background:  ‪While physical activity is believed to be essential for a healthy lifestyle, younger generations seem to spend less time playing sports. On the other hand, in the past couple of years a new type of sports, e-sports has emerged. Though one cannot question that e-sports requires intense concentration and a lot of practice, whether it needs appropriate physical fitness is still debated. 

Material and methods:  ‪A survey was conducted in Debrecen, in the teacher-training high school of the University of Debrecen with the help of interviewers. Beyond socio-demographic data individual sporting and e-sporting habits were assessed in a gender specific context.

Results:  ‪563 respondents were included in the survey, with an average age of 15.9 ±1.4 years (mean±SD). The respondents reported an average free-time of 3.2 ±1.6 and 6.5 ±1.7 hours on weekdays and weekends, respectively, with boys having a half an hour more free-time. While only 22.7% of the girls play video-games, this is 85.5% in the case of boys. The percentage of youth engaged in daily out-ofschool physical activities was 22.9%, but those who do out-of-school sports 2-3 times a week the ratio was 89.5%. 

Conclusions:  ‪While most of the students participate in regular physical activities, they spend a significant amount of their free-time playing video-games. Not only is this time less for girls than for boys, girls report less free-time and less time spent doing physical activity than boys


Key words: adolescents, free-time, physical activity, e-sports, video-games


Cite this article as:

AMA:

Varga Szépné H, Csernoch L, Balatoni I. E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents. Balt J Health Phys Activ. 2019;1(2):38-47. doi:10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

APA:

Varga Szépné, H., Csernoch, L., & Balatoni, I. (2019). E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents. Balt J Health Phys Activ, 1(2), 38-47. https://doi.org/10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

Chicago:

Varga Szépné, Henrietta, Csernoch László, Balatoni Ildikó. 2019. "E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents". Balt J Health Phys Activ 1 (2): 38-47. doi:10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

Harvard:

Varga Szépné, H., Csernoch, L., and Balatoni, I. (2019). E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents. Balt J Health Phys Activ, 1(2), pp.38-47. https://doi.org/10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

MLA:

Varga Szépné, Henrietta et al. "E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents." Balt J Health Phys Activ, vol. 1, no. 2, 2019, pp. 38-47. doi:10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06

Vancouver:

Varga Szépné H, Csernoch L, Balatoni I. E-sports versus physical activity among adolescents. Balt J Health Phys Activ 2019; 1(2): 38-47. Available from: doi:10.29359/BJHPA.2019.Suppl.2.06