Until recently, my friend drove her son to and from school, which is about two miles from home. Amazingly, now her son insists on walking home. Why? There is a new game in town! Since the launching of Pokémon Go, Aviana’s son has been walking back from school religiously. He claims he needs the exercise and gets his quota by walking home.
For parents who don’t know what I am talking about, Pokémon Go is a “free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game for iOS and Android devices, developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company”. The game makes use of GPS and allows players to actually move from place to place. In this game, players travel the real world to various points of interests such as historical buildings, monuments, parks, churches etc. Players choose to either walk or run from one location to another in their quest to capture virtual creatures called Pokémon who trail along the game’s map, to collect eggs, wage battles, and train their “pocket monsters” in Pokémon Go gyms.
For me, Pokémon Go is more than just an entertaining application, it’s a life changer. It’s fun way to get out into nature, explore the neighborhood and increase physical activities. Sometimes along the way I even meet interesting people. The effects of this game is not only phenomenal to me, but has taken the world by storm. All across the United States, people are also testifying that the app has encouraged them to be more active and healthy, as they have to hunt for Pokémon, while traveling through their neighborhoods. One person said that he walked as much as five miles and is looking forward to reducing his weight. Many, too, have set fitness goals. There are Pokémon Go interval workout plans (see link below}.
Generally, gamers are stereotyped as couch potatoes, but “Pokémon Go“ has taken the gaming experience to a whole new place- outside. No longer do we have couch potatoes, because Pokémon Go is helping many, young and old alike, get out of the house to be more physical. I strongly believe that the effects of Pokémon Go are largely positive and beneficial, because the game actually encourages healthy exercise.
According to Dr. Michael Smith, Chief Medical Editor for WebMD and Internal Medicine Physician at Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta, “Many people are saying on social media that their legs are sore from walking, which means that they probably weren’t active before,” “Anything that gets people moving in my mind is a great thing,” he added. Doctors say that’s a step in the right direction and so do I.
In conclusion, obesity is an epidemic, which is growing at alarming rates, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Although there are many possible causes for obesity, one of the main problems is inactivity. It has been confirmed that obese people of all ages spend more time in a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, it is quite encouraging that the gaming world can create a game with curative effect such as getting gamers out into nature and encouraging them to walk. “If somebody is sitting on a couch, and now they are getting off the couch, that’s a start. And if that’s what motivates someone to start exercising, I think that’s wonderful,” says Dr. Robert Zaid, a family doctor at Providence Hospital.
