Are "sport" esports athletes healthier than "non-sport" esports athletes?
Mini-Oral Presentation B1.10
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14288/hfjc.v14i3.599Keywords:
Health, eSports, Genre, Body Composition, Grip StrengthAbstract
Background: The association between video game genre and esport athlete (EA) health is unknown. EA who compete in sport games may have a different health profile than EA who compete in non-sport games. Purpose: To compare the body composition (BC), and maximal grip strength (MGS) between “sport” EA (SEA) and “non-sport” EA (NSEA). Methods: To date, the sample comprises 16 male SEA (age: 24.1±3.2 years) and 20 male NSEA (age: 24.1±3.8 years). Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and body composition (BC) using bioimpedance analysis (Tanita RD-545) were assessed. MGS was recorded using a digital hand dynamometer (Saehan DHD-1). Welch’s t-test and Cohen’s d were used to compare EA groups. Results: NSEA had higher BMI values than SEA (p = 0.06; d = 0.6). WHtR (p = 0.04; d = 0.68), and body fat percentage (p = 0.02; d = 0.75) were also higher amongst NSEA than SEA, with both reaching statistical significance with large effect sizes. No statistical significance was found for MGS (p = 0.1; d = -0.54). Conclusions: Overall, SEA appear healthier than NSEA, however differences between MGS could not be drawn. Further research is needed with more objective fitness assessments and larger sample sizes to establish if health promotive efforts should be directed more strongly towards NSEA.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Alex Bodman, Sascha Ketelhut, Claudia Kubica, Claudio R. Nigg
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