Gamers Have Bodies Of '60-Year-Old Chain Smokers' (STUDY)

While a new breed of video games, like Nintendo's Wii Fit, are hoping to recast gaming as exercise, a study of the physical prowess of ''elite cyber-sportsmen'' suggests that at least for traditional video games, there's still a way to go before these e-activities can qualify as sport.

As the Telegraph reports, Dr. Dominic Micklewright, the head of the Sport, Performance, and Fatigue Research Unit at the University of Essex, put gamers and athletes through a series of "physical and psychological tests" to see how their mental and physical fitness compared.

Micklewright's conclusion, the Telegraph writes, was "professional computer gamers have the reactions of fighters pilots but the bodies of 60-year-old chain smokers."

While physical exercise is touted as providing an emotional boost and an antidote for depression, Micklewright found that the gamers' emotional states were comparable to those of athletes. "Elite athletes have unusually high levels of positive feelings and low levels of negative feelings such as depression and fatigue," Micklewright told the Telegraph. "'We saw similar characteristics in gamers, albeit not quite as pronounced."

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