'Pokémon Go' Health Benefits Are Short-lived, Says Research

Smartphone game "Pokémon Go" is always in the game. A few months ago, after the augmented reality (AR)-based game took the world by storm, it was said that it has some health benefits to offer for the 'trainers'.

Researchers said the game stimulates physical activity as the players chase the animated Pokémon creatures on their smartphones, hence boosting public health. However, in another twist to the tale, a new Harvard study has said that the health benefits of the AR game are not far-fetched and can fade within six weeks even if it boosts physical activity among adults.

It has been found that the daily average steps taken during the first week of installation of the game went up by 955, which is half the amount of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization in a week.

The subsequent weeks saw a gradual decline in the number of steps and the entire effect was neutralized by the time the user finished six weeks of playing. "Pokémon Go" has been a sensation recently after lying low for a few years since its popularity skyrocketed in the late1990s. The game has been downloaded over 500 million times since it was launched in July.

The research conducted by Harvard scholars and led by Katherine Howe, Christian Suharlim and Peter Ueda aimed to see whether playing "Pokémon Go" really had any physical effect on the young American adults. An online survey was carried out in August in which 1,182 people, aged 18-35 and used smartphones, were covered.

Analysis of data from the users' phones' automatically recorded step count to see how much more they are actually walking after installing the game and it was seen that the daily average steps in the first week had gone up by just 955 and it gradually declines as time progresses.