Gamers not fat loners, say researchers

Good news for gamers - first we discover that they are not actually lonely, anti-social misfits, and now we find that they might also be healthier than the average bear, too. According to a report in New Scientist (subscription), a study of 7,000 players of EverQuest 2 found that they were typically fitter and did more exercise than ordinary people. Perhaps, the researchers posit, it's not sitting in front of a screen that's the problem, but what's actually on the screen. "Television has well-studied connections with eating attitudes due to the presence of commercials for unhealthy foods," the paper says. "Video game use may involve higher or lower amounts of screen time, but the messages may be different, and the research is so far inconclusive." Nasty TV!